HIGHLIGHTS
the agency’s unused office space and revitalizing previously used property. Looking toward the future, federal office spaces can be repurposed for a variety of functions, such as mixed-use developments, museums, or cultural centers, ensuring the space remains relevant and functional. Working daily in historic surroundings gives employees pride of place and helps them to understand the important role they play in identifying and preserving American history.
» GSA is utilizing funds from its outleases to support a prototype window rehabilitation project at 201 Varick Street in lower Manhattan that will reduce operating costs while improving the quality of interior workspace and restoring the exterior appearance of the building with energy efficient replicas of historic windows. Possible use of IRA funds for procurement of low embodied carbon glass may enable GSA to expand the project scope to upgrade more windows. » NASA is nearing completion of the recladding of Hangar 1 at Moffett Federal Airfield, California, for its use by Planetary Ventures, LLC, after entering into a Section 111 lease agreement for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of Hangar 1 and for operation, management, and maintenance of Moffett Federal Airfield in 2014. Additional information on this successful project can be found in a Case Study on page 82. » During fall 2022, NPS’s Gateway National Recreation Area, New York/New Jersey, executed a long-term lease for the Jacob Riis Bathhouse and related buildings, located on the Rockaway Peninsula within the park’s Jamaica Bay Unit. The lessee has commenced work for a $50 million rehabilitation that includes a boutique hotel with a bar, event spaces, and a swimming pool. The park’s Fort Hancock 21st Century Advisory Committee has enabled Gateway National Recreation Area staff to prepare a request for proposals for residential, lodging, or related business uses there, which has yielded six long-term leases with rehabilitation projects already underway. » Many homes still stand within NPS’s Minute Man National Historical Park in Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, Massachusetts, but have not been in residential use for decades. To bring new life into the homes and address park deferred maintenance, some have recently been made available for residential use via leasing. Lessees must be willing live in the homes for one to three years paying fair market value, utilities, and adequate insurance. They must also be willing to “become a part of the park’s relationship with the public by maintaining the historic and well-tended appearance of the structure and grounds.” » USFS and Virginia Department of Conservation entered into a 30-year Section 111 lease for the Green Pastures Recreation site, established in 1936 as a recreation space for African Americans during the segregation era. The area, listed as one of Virginia’s Most Endangered Sites in 2018, will once again provide opportunities for visitors to connect with the outdoors while learning about the park’s significant though complicated history. » Following execution of a programmatic agreement in 2022 with the New York SHPO, the United States Postal Service has entered into a 99-year lease with a lessee for a portion of the Morgan General Mail Facility, located at 341 Ninth Avenue, New York City. The leased portion includes more than 500,000 square feet of the historic Art Deco building. The lessee has proposed to perform the rehabilitation of part of the premises to accommodate new retail and commercial office space. The programmatic agreement will address proposed interior and exterior treatments moving forward.
Outleasing Leasing of federally owned historic properties by nonfederal partners, or outleasing, was recommended in the 2021 Section 3 Report as a way to promote the productive use of federal historic buildings, contribution to local economies, increase public access, and potentially save agencies money on capital improvement costs. While the broad issues facing the use of outleasing addressed in the 2021 report remain mostly unresolved three years later, and several agencies continued to report facing challenges with current program policies and priorities, many successful outleasing examples stood out to demonstrate the benefits of continued use and promotion of these programs.
Restoration work on the 1930s Jacob Riis Bathhouse within Gateway National Recreation Area has addressed hurricane and erosion damage to the property from Hurricane Sandy in 2017. (NPS)
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IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A Report on Federal Historic Properties • 2024 | 81
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