The General Services Administration is the nation’s largest public real estate organization. Its Public Buildings Service has an inventory of more than 300 million square feet in about 8,000 buildings in nearly 2,000 communities -- including courthouses, post offices, and assorted other federally owned buildings.

Of particular note, the Public Buildings Service currently manages some 455 buildings listed in or potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places -- containing a total of 55 million gross square feet.

GSA has put together a comprehensive report, Held in Public Trust, outlining its historic preservation policies and objectives. In the report, GSA notes that:

"Our historic buildings represent a national legacy that we hold in public trust. They represent the tangible presence of the Federal government in big cities and small towns. They have both cultural and monetary value, as do parks, forests, and other Federal real property assets. Generously finished lobbies and gathering spaces designed to receive the public graciously reflect the importance of the public to the Federal Government and the importance of the government’s civic functions to the public. ... From an asset perspective, historic buildings often possess innate qualities that reflect durable, sound investment, and long term value: high quality finishes and design, lower operating costs, high value urban locations, and high recognition value. ... Recent analysis conducted by the Public Buildings Service's Cultural, Environmental and Accessibility programs indicates that cleaning, maintenance, and utility costs at GSA-controlled historic buildings have been consistently lower than comparable operating costs for non-historic GSA buildings. Post-World War II buildings tend to consume more energy due to higher glazing-to-surface ratios and thinner exterior wall construction. ...

The Report candidly recognizes that despite increased recognition of the values of historic buildings: "We must reconcile ourselves to the possibility that our use of historic buildings may actually be declining. Unless our housing strategies prevent historic buildings from becoming troubled assets, we may soon be disposing of landmark public buildings at an accelerated rate. Our list of pending disposals includes several historic properties of exceptional cultural significance."

return to Public Buildings: American Images