Barletta Applauds Pittsburgh's Acquisition of Abandoned VA Property

Press Release

This week, Congressman Lou Barletta (PA-11) applauded the city of Pittsburgh's acquisition of a former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital complex which will be used for public safety training for law enforcement and emergency management services. As Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, Barletta has worked extensively to facilitate negotiations with the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government's landlord, and the city of Pittsburgh to move this acquisition forward. The property has been abandoned since 2013, when the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System closed the complex on Highland Drive and shifted medical services to the University Drive campus in Oakland and the H.J. Heinz facility in O'Hara.

"You would think the federal government would want to quickly dispose of unneeded property," Barletta said. "But what would take a short time to get done in the private sector takes years in the federal government, and taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for this inaction. Just last year, the vacant VA property cost taxpayers about $300,000 in basic maintenance fees. After years of negotiations and work, I'm glad that we are one step closer to getting this property off the federal government's dime and providing the city of Pittsburgh with an upgraded public safety training facility."

In his capacity as chairman, Barletta has worked to save taxpayer dollars through better management of federal real estate. To date, his efforts have already saved taxpayers more than $4.4 billion by eliminating unnecessary federal building projects, streamlining the sale of vacant properties, and better utilizing federal space.

For example, Barletta's bill, H.R. 6194, the Real Estate Assets and Leasing (REAL) Reform Act of 2018, which unanimously passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in June, allows the government to negotiate better rental rates and concessions and has the potential to save taxpayers more than $500 million annually. The bill currently awaits action on the House floor.

Additionally, the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (FASTA), which Barletta helped shepherd through committee, creates a six-year pilot program to sell up to $8 billion worth of underutilized and vacant federal properties to create the best value for taxpayers. The law also establishes a Public Buildings Reform Board to identify opportunities to reduce the real property inventory and make recommendations for the sale of underutilized and vacant federal properties. Further, it requires GSA to create and publish a single, comprehensive database of all federal real properties, and include whether those properties are excess, surplus, underutilized, or unutilized to prevent a future stockpiling of unused and underutilized property.

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