The Biden administration’s decision to move the FBI’s national headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland, raised questions this week, not least of all due to the size and cost of the project.
The U.S. General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings, announced that it had chosen the site on Wednesday, prompting praise from Maryland lawmakers and disapproval from Virginia legislators, both of whom had competed over a number of years for the lucrative contract.
Among critics of the development was Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, who argued that the size of the new building would be larger than the Pentagon.
Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by Matt Gaetz, on November 9, 2023, viewed 1.5 million times, stated: “70 Republicans voted to reward the Weaponized FBI with a new $300M headquarters – larger than the Pentagon.
“Sad!”
Gaetz’s statement referred to an amendment he proposed “to prohibit funds from being used for the acquisition of property for a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters.”
The Facts
According to a 2023 Draft Environmental Assessment of the Pentagon, prepared by the Washington Headquarters Services, the Pentagon Office Building “covers approximately 29 acres around a 5-acre, 5-sided Courtyard…5 full upper stories; and a partial basement and mezzanine.”
The acreage of the Pentagon site, which includes the main building “is situated on approximately 245 acres of land.”
“The Pentagon site includes the Pentagon building and associated features and complexes such as the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, the North and South Villages, and the Pentagon Transit Center,” the report states.
“The Pentagon site also includes the Hayes Street, Fern Street, and Eads Street parking lots north of Army-Navy Drive.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
By comparison, a U.S. General Services Administration draft environment impact report on the Greenbelt development states the site is 61 acres, of which 26.3 acres is freshwater forested wetland.
The size of the actual FBI HQ building would be developed within a 4.1 acre site, which is “assumed to have a maximum building height of approximately 17 stories.”
Even by a crude calculation, if the new FBI HQ were built to 17 stories on a 4.1 acre site, it could not reach the size of the Pentagon building, which has five full stories on 29 acres.
Newsweek has contacted a media representative for Matt Gaetz and the Department of Defense via email for comment.
However, before the recent decision on Greenbelt, another proposed site in Landover, Maryland, may have rivaled the Pentagon’s size were it built. A Draft Environmental Impact report for the site said the developable area for the main building would be 15.81 acres with a maximum building height of “approximately 11 stories.”
If we only count the “5 full upper stories” of the Pentagon, multiply that by its acreage, and perform a similarly crude calculation to the Landover’s proposed dimensions, on paper, the Landover building could have been bigger.
However, this very rough assessment does not take into account the Pentagon’s mezzanine, basement, or its five-acre courtyard which while not office space, still forms part of its facilities. It also does not take into account whether Landover would have been built to 11 stories or occupied its total developable area.
The Ruling
False.
The new FBI headquarters to be developed in Greenbelt, Maryland, will not be larger than the Pentagon.
The Pentagon site is larger than the proposed Greenbelt plot. The Pentagon building is also larger than the proposed FBI headquarters.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.