FBI Gets the Most Expensive Government Office Building Ever - Twice!

That new FBI HQ will take more than a decade to build and will cost $3.5 billion, or maybe $4.5 billion. 

Why so much? Because this is the kind of marquee government project where no one bids low, and the taxpayers will just have to brace themselves for sticker shock. 

Indeed, the cost is so high that GSA is going to set up a special funding mechanism.

To support the funding for a new FBI headquarters, the Biden administration proposes setting up a Federal Capital Revolving Fund.

Under this proposal, Congress would appropriate the total amount of money needed for the project upfront. GSA would then repay the revolving fund, over the course of 15 years, by taking out about $233 million each year from the Federal Buildings Fund.

Of course, in an election year, we cannot assume that a future Congress will be happy to up-front billions for the FBI. Still, that's probably the way to bet. 

How odd that the old FBI HQ, the Hoover Building, the one that is now totally obsolete and decrepit, was the most expensive government office building ever at $126 million back when it was built in the 1970s. There are great details on that project here. 

Yes, the Hoover Building was even more expensive than the Pentagon, which cost a mere $83 million. 

How lucky for the FBI that they'll step from one record-setting costly building to another. It's like a wonderful government tradition of sacred cows and cost overruns!