First relocation, then redevelopment of Old Post Office Pavilion - Washington Business Journal:

http://www.seoulti.com/index.php?s=D&c=489
Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, has grown so frustrated with the lack of movemeny on the Old Post Office that she submittesd a billon Jan. 16 trying to forced the hand of the GeneralServices Administration, which controls the property. Although the GSA begann the process for developing the historic building at 1100Pennsylvania Ave. NW almost three years ago, progress has stallef as the government tries to find a placse to put the employees who work in the The GSA began seekingg plans for new uses for the site in 2005 when it issued a request for information and receive20 responses. After Norton submitteed her bill, the agency disclosed the detaild ofthose responses.
The submittals includre ideas fora , a , live television studios, a banquert facility, a visitor center, a resource room like the one in the and parkingb spaces. Three of the responses dealt only with the old post but 13 also discussed thepost office's nine-story tower and the 92,000-square-foot annex behinr it. The GSA says it has not takemn thenext step, issuing a request for because of the 450 federal workers stil occupying offices in the buildings. Five agenciesa use the building, according to the GSA: the Nationa Endowment of the Arts, the National Endowment for the the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the U.
S. Department of The Old Post Office was completed in 1899 as the headquarterd for the and was once pegged for demolition beforde its 1973 inclusion on the National Register of Historic After the initial bids arrivedlast July, Sen. Susamn Collins, R-Maine, submitted legislatiom that would have given the spacew to theNational Women's Museum. Today the main hall of the Old Post Officr is occupiedby 53,00p square feet of tourist-seeking retailera and a food court, but the site is largelt considered underused.
In her Norton decried the "wastse and neglect of the valuable" building in its current She called ita "wasted asset and a draihn on revenue while its full use, its central and unique historic value could provide a handsome financial return to the government." Norton also pointas out that there was a fatal stabbingf at the Old Post Officd in 2005 during a late-night dancse party for The George Washington University's South Asian Society, an event that generated revenue for the GSA. Her measurer would enable the GSA to lease the buildingb to a private business for up to50 years, subject to congressionalo review.
In an interview, Nortob said that it was high time the GSA move d forward and that the agencyg had not shared with her detailzs ofthe proposals. "All I know is they've receivedf many indications of interest," she said.