Poll: The Sequestration is Good. Really

WASHINGTON, DC-It's been two weeks since sequestration passed into law and according to GlobeSt.com's readers that is a good thing. In a recent reader survey poll to the question "Sequestration, What is it Good For", 58% of the respondents answered that the cuts have to happen – it is time. Twenty percent said they were still trying to get their heads around the issue and 22% said it would be a mess for CRE.

The numbers are understandable, says Kurt Stout, EVP of government solutions at Colliers International. "I think what you are seeing a reflection of the economic principles of the readership, which believes there needs to be a reduction in spending," he tells GlobeSt.com.

"I don't people think sequestration as a method for reducing spending is good – I think they think reducing spending in general is good."

Also, the cuts will be felt disproportionately in the DC area, he adds, which might also explain why 58% of the readers who answered the survey were sanguine about sequestration. "Of course it will have an impact wherever government contracts are met, such as Texas and California. The DC area, though, is clearly at the epicenter of that."

One myth that needs to be debunked, Stout adds, is the perception that sequestration will hurt the public sector more than the private sector. "The easiest way for the government to make immediate cuts is to cancel or defer contracts – which are held by private sector firms," he says.

Another myth is that DC area landlords will feel pain, at least in the near term. "I don't see the government right now making structural changes to accommodate the sequestration," Stout says. Space needs, in short, will remain largely the same and where the government is scaling back it is due to forces outside of sequestration. All one has to do is look at GSA's search for a new FBI headquarters to see that. But that, however, is another story.