The federal office space of the future? GSA’s new floor plan eschews desk-jockey culture. WaPo, July 16, 2013

In the immortal words of the late, great Redskins coach George Allen, "The future is now!",  GSA--the Washington metro area's largest real estate owner and lessee--is downsizing working spaces ("densification") for tens of thousands of federal employees, starting with its own headquarters, according to this Washington Post article by Lisa Rein.

Yet Fairfax County insists--in the face of universal evidence to the contrary--that the space per office worker remains at 300 GSF with one workspace for each worker.   Most writers--academics, business journalists, industry groups--report that the space per worker number is already below 200 GSF, likely to go to 150 GSF in the next few years, and could reach 100 GSF by the end of the decade.  This results from a combination of new office design thinking, technology that enables remote work, and the constant drive by companies to reduce operating costs.

Meanwhile, Fairfax County insists on planning office space for the last century, not the 21st.

In contrast, last year Arlington County changed its office space per worker assumption downward from 250 GSF to 200 GSF according to a letter the County sent to MWCOG.  Arlington is the only County in the Washington area that has done transit-oriented development (TOD) right so far, as the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor exemplifies.

Here is some of what WaPo has to say about GSA's effort:

The agency that manages 375 million square feet of federal office space is moving back to its newly renovated headquarters in downtown Washington, where its employees are finding that their personal real estate footprint has been radically altered.

They now have to work in less than half the space they once had.

The long corridors, closed-door offices and high cubicles that have always defined the culture of the federal workplace have given way to open spaces filled with industrial white desks that most employees must now reserve like hotel rooms.

Employees badge in at the lobby turnstile so their bosses know where they are. They touch down at desks they must leave without a trace of clutter if they want to avoid a scolding. “Teaming Rooms” are “leveraged” for meetings, and attendees are electronically logged in by a “room wizard” on the wall outside.

The inspiration behind the General Services Administration’s new floor plan and office decor is Administrator Daniel M. Tangherlini, who is urging his employees to work away from their desks while dismantling the bureaucratic approach back at the office. The push could help usher in a new federal culture in which working no longer means that your boss can see you. . .

. . . Tangherlini is betting that his employees will get more done if they are at home — or anywhere outside the office, for that matter — more often. He wants them to instant-message, Google-chat,
e-mail and Internet-call their way through the workday on laptops and smartphones. He is betting that when they do venture into the office, they will work together better and more creatively if closed doors and high cubicles don’t get in the way.

“Let’s say you don’t buy any of that,” Tangherlini said. “We can show $24 million we saved in rent on six leases we don’t have anymore.” . . . .

Click here for the complete article.  

So why does this matter for Reston TOD development?

• The promise of reduced congestion hinges on a balance between the number of residents and employees in the TOD area around a Metrorail station.  Fairfax County even has a policy calling for balance in urban TOD development.  If, as a result of really bad office space planning assumptions, the number of workers in new office spaces is half-again or twice--or even three times--as great as "planned," the imbalances will be tremendous and congestion worse than ever.   
• The smaller space per office worker will require a greater investment in roadway infrastructure to ease--or at least contain--the growing congestion problem.  At the same time...
• The smaller space per office worker will generate less tax revenues for the County.  In particular, the County is relying on a huge growth in commercial property tax revenues to fund its growing expenditures. 
• The growing congestion will further erode the environmental quality and quite possibly the attractiveness of the Silver Line corridor--including Tysons, Reston, and Herndon--as development areas.  This could include adverse impacts on existing commercial and residential real estate values.

The error in this very small planning number could have critical consequences for the development and quality of life in the Dulles Corridor.