Plan to move EPA's downtown Atlanta office heads to Congress for approval
The U.S. General Services Administration is proposing to move the Environmental Protection Agency's Atlanta regional office out of its longtime downtown headquarters, citing water damage, aging infrastructure and hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance.
According to a GSA prospectus, the agency is seeking congressional approval to lease about 178,008 rentable square feet of office space elsewhere in Atlanta for the EPA's Region 4 headquarters. The EPA has operated out of the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center at 100 Alabama St. SW since 2014.
If approved, the move would reduce the agency's office space by about 146,219 square feet, from 324,227 to 178,008 rentable square feet, under a lease of up to 20 years.
The GSA says the Sam Nunn Federal Center no longer meets the EPA's operational needs.
According to the prospectus, the building has sustained water damage, requires an estimated $2.8 million in additional repairs after $1.2 million in remediation work, needs elevator upgrades and has about $280 million in deferred maintenance.
The prospectus does not identify a new location. Instead, GSA plans to seek proposals from privately owned office buildings within a search area extending from Sandy Springs to downtown Atlanta and including Buckhead and locations within the Interstate 285 corridor.
The proposed lease would increase annual rent from about $7.99 million to $8.58 million, while reducing the amount of office space per employee from 258 to about 173 usable square feet. GSA says the change aligns with federal workplace efficiency goals.
The Atlanta office serves as headquarters for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, overseeing environmental programs in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as six federally recognized tribal nations.
The proposal must still be approved by the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works before GSA can begin leasing a new office space.
