The Suitland Federal Center at a glance:
The Suitland Federal Center houses the following:
How the Federal Center Can Help in Suitland's Development
The programmatic development plan for the Suitland Federal Center addresses deficiencies and identifies opportunities at the campus over the next ten years. The plan was developed by GSA in close cooperation with the federal agencies located at the Federal Center, other regional planning agencies, and the surrounding community.
The general purpose of the plan is as follows:
The Making of the Federal Center
In 1941, the Federal Government purchased 437 acres of wooded farmland in suburban Suitland, Maryland to supplement federal office space within the District of Columbia. Construction of the first building, Federal Office Buildings (FOB-3) for the Census Bureau, began late in 1941. The construction of the Naval Intelligence Command Building (since demolished), Federal Office Building 4 (FOB-4), the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Water Tower, and a garage and annex then followed.
In the 1950s and 1960s, GSA added the Naval Intelligence Command 2 (now called Suitland Federal Center-2), the Suitland Heating and Refrigeration Plant, the Washington National Records Center, and a Radar Building. The new National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC) Building was constructed in the early 1990s.
Today, the Suitland Federal Center consists of approximately 2,760,000 square feet of rentable space and accommodates a number of federal tenants. These include the headquarters function of the Census Bureau, NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite Data Information Service (NESDIS), the management of the property from GSA, the National Archives, and the National Maritime Intelligence Center.