March 25, 2026
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
To direct the Administrator of General Services to convene consultation meetings to identify alternative financing solutions for the construction of new public buildings that will reduce costs to the Federal Government, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Smart Space Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Project recommendations
(a) Meetings and consultations
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall convene consultation meetings to identify alternative financing solutions for the construction or renovation of public buildings, or necessary work to prepare such buildings for disposal that will reduce costs to the Federal Government.
(b) Meetings
In convening consultation meetings under subsection (a), the Administrator shall include—
(1)
experts related to private commercial real estate;
(2)
experts related to Federal real estate; and
(3)
if available, State, including the District of Columbia, real estate experts experienced with leveraging private financing for public buildings and facilities.
(c) Report and recommendations
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the President—
(1)
recommendations on types of public-private partnerships and alternative financing methods best suited for meeting the public building needs of the Federal Government; and
(2)
a list of recommended projects related to public buildings for which such methods should be used with details on which methods and types of public-private partnerships are recommended for each project.
(d) Recommended project list
In submitting a list of recommended projects under subsection (c)(2), the Administrator shall submit projects that the Administrator determines—
(1)
serve core missions of the Federal Government for which maintaining the functions in federally owned space over the long-term is critical;
(2)
will result in either consolidations or relocations of Federal departments or agencies out of costly, inefficient, and underutilized space that the Administrator intends to sell or dispose of once vacated; and
(3)
with respect to standard office space, will result in meeting a minimum building utilization of 60 percent or greater as defined in section 2302 of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (40 U.S.C. 584 note).
(e) Transparency
(1) Report
The Administrator shall submit the report under subsection (c) to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the House and the Committee on Environment and Public Works in the Senate and make such report publicly available on the website of the General Services Administration.
(2) Timeline
The Administrator of General Services shall maintain on the website of the General Services Administration information on the process under this Act, including any timelines and milestones.
(3) Delays
The Administrator shall report directly to the President and Congress any delays with respect to the timing and milestones described in paragraph (2).
(4) Meetings
Meetings pursuant to subsection (a) shall be noticed and open to the public and shall not be subject to chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code.
(f) Definitions
In this Act:
(1) Alternative financing; public-private partnership
The terms alternative financing
and public-private partnership
may include—
(A)
agreements that reflect an obligation by a non-Federal entity to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain an asset, or a combination thereof; and
(B)
a ground-lease to a non-Federal party with a subsequent lease back of the improvements.
(2) Public building
The term public building
has the meaning given such term in section 3301 of title 40, United States Code.