After the elimination of other Northern Virginia locations, a group of Virginia politicians is vying to get the new Federal Bureau of Investigations headquarters re-located in Springfield.
The politicians, which include Senators Mark Warner (D) and Time Kaine (D) and Representatives Frank Wolf (R), Gerry Connolly (D), and Jim Moran (D), as well as other state legislators and county officials, spearheaded the effort for Springfield after the General Services Administration announced that it was moving the FBI headquarters out of the J. Edgar Hoover Building.
Other officials from Maryland, D.C. and Virginia have also expressed interest for landing the new FBI headquarters.
The entire congressional delegation of Maryland, for example, has worked together to compete for relocating the headquarters by issuing a joint letter to both the General Services Administration and the FBI. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) said that a move to Maryland makes sense because “43 percent of FBI headquarters employees live in Maryland,” compared to 33 percent in Virginia and 17 percent in Washington D.C.
Guidelines for New FBI Headquarters Campus
The General Services Administration stated its guidelines for the new campus, which include having at least 50 acres of land and being located within 2.5 miles of the Capital Beltway and within 2 miles of a Metro station. These guidelines meant the elimination of sites in Prince William and Loudon Counties in Virginia and in a number of other sites in D.C.
The Government Accountability Office reported that the FBI’s current headquarters is too small and that it lacks proper security and structure integrity. A recent study revealed that about 4,800 jobs may be lost if FBI headquarters are relocated out of the city and into the suburbs. However, it is also expected that the redevelopment of the site may result in $28 million a year in tax revenue if the private sector develops on the site.
The site in Springfield, Virginia, currently has a CIA facility on it, and it meets the General Services Administration criteria.