FBI Wooed By Fairfax County Supervisors

One member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is trying to persuade the Federal Bureau of Investigations to move its headquarters from the J. Edgar Hoover Building in downtown D.C. to Springfield, Virginia.

Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay has a deal for the FBI: abandon that old, inefficient J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW and move to Virginia -- Springfield, in particular. McKay wants the agency to consider the site of an old warehouse owned by the General Services Administration near the Franconia-Springfield Metro station.

"From a regional standpoint, I can't think of a better site for transportation access, for security, for transit access, for revitalization benefit," says McKay.

Several years ago, McKay made a similar pitch to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission to locate the Washington Headquarters Service here, but the Department of Defense chose the Mark Center in Alexandria instead. Now leaders in Springfield say the GSA site offers an ideal way for the FBI to consolidate its sprawling workforce.

Nancy-jo Manney is executive director of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. She says the GSA site is in need of revitalization.

"The whole thing is a wooden structure," says Manney. "One misplaced match, and the whole thing could come down. Low density on a very valuable piece of land, due to its proximity to the Metro station and the Interstate."

Fairfax County isn't the only local jurisdiction with its eye on the bureau, however. Last month, Prince George's County officials touted their county as the perfect place for the FBI to relocate.

The FBI declined to comment, but forwarded a partially redacted document that described the downtown headquarters as poorly designed and inadequate for its current needs.