WASHINGTON, DC—Two federal agencies signed or renewed leases in the Washington DC area days after the General Services Administration announced it would be stepping up its focus on real estate consolidation.

In one deal, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development took 85,000-square feet at 6710 Rockledge Dr. in Bethesda, MD. In the other, the Department of Veterans Affairs leased 163,917-square feet at 1800 G Street, NW, in a renewal and five-year lease-extension. That contract was overseen by the GSA.

Transwestern's Phil McCarthy, Keith Foery, Peter Marcin, Matt Lynch and Christopher Dubberly, represented the building owner, TIAA-CREF, in the first transaction. The building, called Capital Gateway II, is a five-story, LEED Platinum-certified office totaling nearly 310,000 square feet.

Blake Real Estate is the owner of 1800 G Street, NW, the building in which the Veterans Administration renewed its contract. The company represented itself in-house and the government agency tapped Howard Traul with JLL.

GSA's announcement about consolidation was no doubt met with grim understanding by the local real estate communities that have been targeted. But there are other dynamics at play here and the GSA's news this week hardly means a complete retrenchment by federal agencies from leased real estate.

GSA is still is grappling with a leasing backlog, Transwestern's Marcin notes. That backlog has reached a tipping point, he says, "so we expect to see an uptick in government leasing activity in the near term."