GSA Bombshell

The industry was buzzing yesterday with news of Public Buildings Commissioner Dorothy Robyn's resignation. The former BRAC master had a run of successes since taking the job in late 2012. Can her (rumored) successor keep it going?

We snapped Dorothy at our Federal Property Summit last May, where she praised GSA's ability to get more efficient with some of its assets (including its 1800 F St HQ), but also lamented the lack of up-front funding to improve space utilization for others. One reason Dorothy, a self-described policy wonk, may be leaving is because she's not able to implement policies as efficiently as she'd like; federal leasing expert Darian LeBlanc of Cassidy Turley tells us: "In today's GSA environment, I’m not sure that the PBS Commissioner’s post is the best place from which to mount a policy shift, so I can see where Dorothy would become frustrated." (Though sometimes Barack Obama must feel the presidency isn't a great place to make policy changes either.)

OMB acting controller Norm Dong--left, snapped at the same event last year with Arent Fox's Jon Bouker--is said to be GSA director Dan Tangherlini's likely choice for the public buildings commish post. (Maybe the GSA was waiting to see where Masahiro Tanaka signed before making any personnel decisions.) Dorothy, who was instrumental in leasing the Old Post Office to the Trumps, as well as the auction sale of Georgetown's West Heating Plant, will stay on 'til March.