TSA’s New Headquarters Aims for LEED Gold, 2017 Opening
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) headquarters is relocating from Arlington, Va., to Alexandria, and when the move is complete in 2017 the agency will occupy a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient building.
The agency’s new offices will be located at the Victory Center, an existing vacant office building owned by an investment fund managed by Prudential Real Estate Investors. With the move, TSA will become the anchor of the west end of the Eisenhower Avenue corridor, a commercial mixed-use neighborhood served by the Van Dorn Metrorail Station, according to a statement by the TSA. Approximately 3,400 employees currently work at the TSA headquarters.
TSA operations will occupy approximately 500,000 square feet of the existing Victory Center office building, and the adjacent construction of a new 140,000-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified technology and meeting center. The federal government will lease the space for an initial term of 15 years, according to a statement by the TSA. A new above-ground parking garage will also be constructed on site.
With its upcoming move, the TSA will join the National Science Foundation headquarters, currently under construction, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office complex.
The TSA is not new to energy-efficient building practices. The agency’s current headquarters is LEED Silver certified, and received both an Energy Star rating and a Green Innovation Department of Homeland Security Award. The TSA was on track to save $550,000 in electrical expenses in 2014, according to a statement by Noribachi, a company that provided LED lighting for the agency’s current headquarters.
The General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees TSA, selected Alexandria after a competitive bidding process between Northern Virginia localities and developers. Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille emphasized the combined efforts that led to GSA’s decision on behalf of the TSA. “The Alexandria City Council, city staff, the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, and Prudential Real Estate Investors and their team of brokers and consultants all contributed to the effort that made this exciting news possible,” he said.