Greenbelt’s City Council Room was full of jubilation and pride on the rainy morning of Friday November 10, when Maryland Governor Wes Moore led an extraordinary press conference to celebrate Greenbelt’s selection as the location of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) national headquarters (HQ). The event followed the General Services Administration’s (GSA) selection announcement on November 8, after 14 years of efforts to bring the FBI to Greenbelt, since the FBI began looking for a new home in 2009. GSA plans for the site include the secure FBI facility and a mixed-use commercial development at the Metro station.
Celebration
Moore opened with a big “Good morning, y’all!” describing the rain as “tears of joy being spread all over the place.” He said, “I cannot stress enough how big this is for Prince George’s County. I cannot stress enough how big this is for Maryland. I can’t stress how important this is for the American taxpayers. I can’t stress how important this is for law enforcement because there’s currently an FBI building that just last weekend had a piece of concrete almost hit a person working inside the building. They need and deserve better, and in Maryland we will deliver that.”
“Nothing Given, Everything Earned,” emphasized Moore, speaking of the hard work and teamwork it had taken to have Greenbelt selected. Standing at the front of the room with Moore were individuals from all levels of government representing the City of Greenbelt, Prince George’s County and the State of Maryland.
Winning on the Merits
U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer opened his remarks with a joyful “Hello, Team!” and said Greenbelt won on criteria including transit, schedule, cost and equity. GSA noted that the Greenbelt site is located at a Metro and MARC station. It also chose Greenbelt for the quickest schedule, because the landowners (Metro and the State of Maryland) are ready to sell at appraised value and the site has no tenants or buildings to be moved and demolished, while the Springfield, Va., site would require over three years to move tenants and demolish buildings. Cost estimates for site purchase and preparation are $26M for Greenbelt, $64M for Springfield and over $100M for Landover. GSA also found Greenbelt has the most potential to spur economic opportunity in underserved communities.
Local Impact
The City of Greenbelt has consistently supported bringing the FBI to Greenbelt (see statement by Mayor Emmett Jordan, page 7). Moore said the building will “bring over 7,500 jobs to the State of Maryland, will generate over four billion dollars of economic activity and will solidify our state as the tech and cyber capital of the United States.” Maryland State Delegate Adrienne Jones talked of public service career impacts on individuals: well-paid jobs, strong benefits and economic mobility, as well as purpose, lifelong skills and rewarding careers.
U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey emphasized issues of equity and history, saying, “I’m tired of the redlining that’s been here. This is a step moving away from that.” For more on the issues of equity as well as changes to criteria in site selection, see the November 10, 2022, issue of the News Review.
The GSA said economic benefits include both the direct impact of federal jobs and contracts, and the indirect economic benefit of job creation and spending by employed individuals in the local economy. The City of Greenbelt anticipates that the FBI’s presence will lead to improved public transit to support FBI personnel and benefit Greenbelt residents.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks called it a “once in a generation” opportunity for investing in amenities, housing and offices and in schools “on the cutting edge for the FBI’s mission and attracting top talent from across the globe.” She said it “means so much more than another building,” anticipating “a rising tide of opportunity that lifts all of us up … [to] permanently reshape our community for the better … and change millions of lives across the state and Prince George’s County.” She emphasized construction will be completed with a Project Labor Agreement (a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with labor organizations).
Virginia Reactions
Virginia officials challenged the decision in the media, with reactions including a joint statement from Governor Glenn Youngkin, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and eight Virginia U.S. Representatives: “We are deeply disturbed to learn that a political appointee at the General Services Administration overruled the unanimous recommendation of a three-person panel comprised of career experts from the GSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation concluding that Springfield, Va., is the site best suited for the new FBI headquarters … Any fair weighing of the criteria points to a selection of Virginia. It is clear that this process has been irrevocably undermined and tainted, and this decision must now be reversed.”
FBI Director Reacts
Similarly fierce was the reaction from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who claimed flaws in the site selection process, including GSA’s Site Selection Authority (SSA) not adhering to the recommendation of the Site Selection Panel (one FBI and two GSA employees recommended Springfield), and cited a conflict of interest by someone on the SSA who previously worked for Metro, which is expected to sell the site to GSA. [The sale could help Metro finances, which have been challenged in recent years by lower ridership levels, fare evasion and major rail line and rail car maintenance.] Wray’s letter to his workforce expressed concerns about “fairness and transparency in the process and GSA’s failure to adhere to its own site selection plan” and “the appearance of a lack of impartiality by the GSA senior executive given the executive’s previous professional affiliation with the owner of the selected site.”
GSA noted the SSA has the authority to overrule selection panels and make an independent decision and previously did so to include Springfield for consideration against the panel’s recommendation. After GSA’s General Counsel found no legal reason to overturn the decision, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan commented that, “We’re disappointed that the FBI Director is now making inaccurate claims directed at our agency, our employees and our site selection plan and process, [after] GSA and FBI teams have spent countless hours working closely together over many months … any suggestion that there was inappropriate interference is unfounded.” She wrote to Wray, “The choice of Greenbelt, Md., is fully consistent with the decision-making process as well as all laws, regulations and ethical considerations. We stand behind the process, the decision and all of the public servants who carefully followed the process and made a good decision on behalf of the FBI and the public.” U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen admonished, “It is absolutely wrong of Director Chris Wray to impugn and question the character, the integrity and the independence of the site selection administrator.”
Partnership
Speakers in Greenbelt emphasized that the decision was final and praised the 14 years of continuous bipartisan team effort across Democrats, Republicans and across elections, remaining united as Team Maryland and Team Prince George’s. Hoyer noted, “It would not have happened if we didn’t have the unity of a team … a team that was made up of every political group, every generation and every level of government.”
The effort spanned governors Larry Hogan (R) and Moore (D), county executives Rushern Baker and Alsobrooks (both D), U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski, Ben Cardin and Van Hollen (all D), U.S. Representatives including Anthony Brown and Ivey (both D) and state senators and delegates. Speakers credited Mikulski for beginning to regularly put aside federal budget dollars in 2015 (a nest egg now at $1.2B and still growing), and Hogan and Baker for their early advocacy.
Speakers consistently recognized Hoyer as the “ultimate champion,” “the visionary and the architect.” Moore said, “If you ever get a chance to have a conversation with Steny Hoyer, I guarantee you in the first 30 seconds: F-B-I!” Alsobrooks: “I can confirm the Congressman spoke one language, called FBI” and Lt. Governor Aruna Miller said that, “In Maryland, we spell tenacity S-T-E-N-Y!”
Next Steps
GSA said this is the final decision according to the selection process and criteria jointly agreed on by the FBI and GSA. GSA will now begin purchasing the site (expected to take nine months) and coordinating with Congress. Next steps will then include an environmental impact review, contracting with architects, choosing designs and letting a construction contract, all of which are expected to take three and a half years before construction can begin.
When a reporter asked about the possibility of losing construction funds, Hoyer reiterated the $1B already set aside and the $375M more proposed in the FY2024 appropriation bill. He added that the day before, Thursday, November 9, the House of Representatives rejected [by 273 to 145] a proposed amendment to eliminate the funding. (The amendment was proposed by Republican representatives interested in defunding the FBI and did not reflect disagreement with the Greenbelt site selection.)
Bringing It Home
Greenbelters can look forward to the planned full Beltway interchange from the Beltway to Metro (current access is only from and to the west) and determining road access from the Greenbelt Station community to Metro, long deferred while awaiting the FBI decision.
Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Greenbelt’s Economic Development Manager Kevin Simpson brought it home to Greenbelt. Lierman noted that in 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt approved the investigative unit in the Department of Justice that became the FBI, and that President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt were personally involved in creating Greenbelt. Simpson said, “I think it’s very fitting. You know, we often talk about Greenbelt as a New Deal community, but it was the BEST DEAL for this investment with the FBI Headquarters.” Many of the day’s speakers made a point of welcoming the FBI to Maryland, but Moore and Miller may have been the most eloquent. Moore said “To everybody in the FBI: We’re excited to work together with you and make sure – we’re not just going to get it right – we’re going to make you proud as well.” In closing, Miller said, “Welcome to Maryland, FBI. We’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time.”