Norton Says GSA Announcement of Three Potential D.C. Sites for New Department of Labor Headquarters Promises Federal Savings and Local Redevelopment

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the U.S. General Services Administration announcement today of three potential sites for the new Department of Labor (DOL) headquarters means jobs and development where they are needed in the District of Columbia. All of the potential sites announced today are located in D.C. neighborhoods that Norton has sought to develop through her leadership role on the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

The potential sites are Capitol Riverfront (intersection of M St. SW and South Capitol St.), Poplar Point (located in Anacostia and bordered by Interstate 295, Howard Road SE and Suitland Parkway) and NoMa (intersection of North Capitol St. and New York Ave. NW).

One of the sites is in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, which is under development now because of Norton’s land transfer legislation, the Southeast Federal Center Public-Private Development Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-407). Another site is located in the Poplar Point area, where another Norton land transfer bill, the Federal and District of Columbia Government Real Property Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-396), allowed for the transfer and redevelopment of federal land there, which will be conveyed to the District upon the city meeting certain conditions. The third site is located in the NoMa neighborhood, where Norton has already brought the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the NoMa Metro Station.

Norton said that if the Poplar Point site is selected, it would be the second-ever federal agency to be located east of the Anacostia River in the District. Norton successfully worked to bring the only current federal agency east of the Anacostia River, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security headquarters, which is currently under construction and is the largest federal construction project in the country.

“The potential sites that GSA has selected for the new DOL headquarters reflect our work to locate federal agencies away from high-cost, downtown sites, to easily accessible parts of the District in need of development,” Norton said. “Our committee has long expressed a preference for sites that save taxpayer funds while being close to public transportation. All three sites announced today meet these criteria. Further, the site of current the DOL headquarters, located near the Capitol, can now be redeveloped and bring increased revenue to the District.”