As part of an effort to identify savings and find some money in its real estate portfolio, the federal government wants to move the FBI from its current headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in downtown Washington, D.C. to a new campus elsewhere in the region. The GSA, which handles real estate activity for federal agencies, issued a request for information this week that asked developers to submit specific proposals for a new FBI headquarters campus. The new development would be large and could include up to 2 million square feet of office space and 12,000 jobs. Given this opportunity, a number of Northern Virginia counties are pitching themselves for the project.

The counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford have all expressed interest in having the new FBI headquarters campus located in their jurisdiction. Virginia lawmakers are doing their part to push for the development in Northern Virginia as the group sent a letter to the GSA head making the case why they believe Virginia is a better option than Maryland.

The competition for the project is expected to be fierce among the Northern Virginia counties and Maryland. Two counties have even teamed up to bolster their message to the GSA.Prince William County and Stafford County, both of which border the existing FBI facilities at Quantico, are working together to convince the FBI to move to the region. The counties argue that they already have a strong relationship with the FBI, land is cheaper than other counties closer to DC, and many FBI employees already live in the two counties.

Stay with the Virginia Real Estate Blog as we follow this process and the potential development. Given its scope and potential economic impact, it could be a major real estate project for Northern Virginia.