April 20, 2017

For Immediate Release

Statement of Prince George’s County Councilman Mel Franklin on Council Letter Urging GSA and USCIS to Finalize Move of Headquarters to Prince George’s County

USCIS Headquarters was Preliminarily Awarded to Site Near Branch Avenue Metro Station Last Summer

Contact: Mel@melfranklin.net

Upper Marlboro, MD – At Tuesday’s Council session, the County Council voted to send a letter to leaders of the General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urging them to finalize the lease for consolidating the USCIS headquarters at the Town Center at Camp Springs, a mixed-use (residential, retail, and office) development at the Branch Avenue Metro Station.  The site was preliminarily selected by GSA as the new location of the federal agency headquarters last summer, but the change in Administration in the White House has led to a delay in the finalization of the lease, which is the final step before construction of the project goes forward.  Despite being home to more than 75,000 federal employees, Prince George’s County lags the region with only 4% of the region’s leased federal office space.  Councilman Mel Franklin (D-District 9) issued the following statement:

“Last summer, a site and development team near the Branch Avenue Metro Station won preliminary award of the lucrative headquarters of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with its 3,200 employees and 600,000 square feet of office space.  This project would be the anchor and economic catalyst for one of the County and region’s most promising transit-oriented developments.  Despite this momentum, and the development team satisfying all of the necessary environmental and security requirements, GSA and USCIS have yet to finalize the lease for the project without explanation, causing uncertainty for the financing and costs of the project.  Tuesday’s County Council letter is an urgent message to GSA and USCIS that any further delay will jeopardize the private sector’s ability to deliver a state of the art facility on time and on budget to assist USCIS in fulfilling its security responsibilities to the American people.”

The Council’s letter to GSA and USCIS can be found here: https://princegeorgescountymd.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=5117703&GUID=CF23F736-1252-42CF-8194-DE88629B7239.  The letter is addressed to USCIS Acting Director James McCament and GSA Regional Commissioner Mary Gibert and urges “USCIS to finalize its Lease and Occupancy agreement with GSA and GSA to finalize its lease with Town Center at Camp Springs LP.”

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