Apparently, even the government knows that the rent in Washington, D.C. is too damn high. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of the General Services Administration (GSA) has failed to pay its rent since December 2014, claiming that it was no longer responsible for doing so. On June 17, the landlord of Franklin Court on 1099 14th Street NW filed a claim with the agency, seeking $2 million for more than six months of rent. The Washington Business Journal reported that the reasoning behind the agency's failure to cough up any money is due to moving to the Capitol Riverfront. Representing the owner of Franklin Court in negotiations with the GSA, DTZ broker Darian LeBlanc told The Washington Business Journal, "They said, 'We've moved out of the space that we don't want anymore, we've decided we're not going to be paying rent on it.'" The landlord doesn't see the move as complete, though, due to the agency leaving computer servers in the 85,000-square-foot space. Because the agency did not entirely vacate the space and also vacated six months late due to a "communications breakdown," the landlord lost a potential tenant that planned on occupying the NLRB's former space. A spokesman for the GSA told the Washington Business Journal that the agency was aware of how the delay cost Franklin Court its client, and said that the NLRB was willing to compress its space to make way for the tenant. If Franklin Court's claim with the GSA for the unpaid rent is denied, then the landlord may take the case to the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals or to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
· Downtown D.C. landlord claims GSA just stopped paying its rent [The Washington Business Journal]
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