The Feds Remain Very Strict With Leasing .. Except for One Type of User

WASHINGTON, DC—The federal government, as the DC area so well knows, is bound and determined to narrow its real estate footprint. For the most part it is succeeding, although in some cases its efforts have been counterproductive or at least short-sighted. (One example, according to Colliers International's Kurt Stout: while Congress wants to see government operations move into GSA-owned assets, it is not providing the funds to make repairs to some of these buildings, forcing agencies to continue leasing).

However, there appears to be one type of government user towards which GSA and possibly even Congress is willing to cut some slack: cyber security units.

This is according to JLL brokers Joe Brennan and Lucy Kitchin, who base their statement partly on observation, partly on common sense and partly on government spending patterns.

Some leases by cyber security units have been able to renew in place without a reduction, Kitchin tells GlobeSt.com. "We are not seeing new growth yet -- but we definitely are seeing cyber security units that do not have to reduce their space uses. This could signify that cyber security users may be outside the government pressure to reduce their space." It is possible, she speculated, that these units may actually be able to expand their footprints in the near term.

Cyber security has been a work in progress throughout the federal government, taking place in various agencies, Brennan tells GlobeSt.com.

"But now it is finally becoming operationalized, especially in face of what is happening in the news. The government is focused on it."

In short, Brennan said, "cyber security represents an area of bipartisan consensus on the Hill that could turn into actual net new growth."

The most telling piece of evidence backing up this theory is the investment the government has made in cyber security to date -- and its plans for future spending.

To date there has been more than $32 billion spent on federal cyber security operations in the past decade, according to JLL.

Or put another way, between 2006 and 2014, federal spending on cyber security increased 281%, an average of 22% annually. During that same period the federal government grew at a rate of 4.2 percent annually.