Public Buildings Reform Board

What Public Buildings Reform Board does

The Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal agency established under the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (FASTA) and sworn into service in May 2019, with statutory authority reauthorized through December 31, 2026. Its sole function is to identify and recommend underutilized, high-cost federal civilian properties for sale, consolidation, or disposition, and to streamline the federal real property disposal process. Outputs are formal recommendations submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, with approved properties notified to Congress and executed by the General Services Administration (GSA) and other landholding agencies. PBRB's principal deliverables include three rounds of disposition recommendations (High Value Asset Report 2020, First Round 2021 rejected, Second Round 2025 approved) and periodic interim reports, including the March 2026 'Cost of Inaction' report documenting approximately $50 billion in deferred maintenance liabilities across GSA's portfolio.

PBRB's underlying methodology combines internal portfolio data with commercial real estate modeling supplied by partner firm Jones Lang Lasalle, which analyzes occupancy, cost, and consolidation scenarios across selected markets. The Board is staffed by six statutorily appointed members covering commercial real estate, legal, and former-Congressional expertise, supported by a small full-time Executive Director-led office of 1-10 employees headquartered in Washington, D.C. Notably, PBRB has no commercial revenue model: it does not sell products or services, has no pricing structure, and is funded through federal appropriations with Congressional Justification Documents submitted annually.

PBRB's customer base consists of federal agencies (GSA, OMB, and landholding agencies such as DOE, ED, and USDA), Congress (notification recipient), and local municipalities (beneficiaries of disposed properties). The Board's recommendations affect approximately 7 million square feet of recommended disposition to date, totaling more than $450 million in identified property value and $5.4 billion in potential Second Round savings. PBRB is explicitly distinct from DOGE, OMB, and GSA, though it collaborates with each. Its primary stakeholder engagement channels include official website publications, public hearings in multiple U.S. cities, press releases, and Congressional testimony.

Name

Public Buildings Reform Board

Legal name

Public Buildings Reform Board

Website

https://pbrb.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Public Buildings Reform Board is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal agency established under FASTA in 2019 to identify and recommend underutilized federal civilian properties for sale or disposition, serving GSA, OMB, and Congress, with statutory authority set to sunset December 31, 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Federal Real Estate Advisory Services

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925)

SIC

Non-Operating Establishments (9995)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Property & Asset Management (Federal Buildings, Fleet, Land) (BPAIAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Housing & Neighborhood Services (Local Housing Programs) (BPAIACAJ), Municipal Finance, Treasury, Budget & Procurement (BPAIACAC)

Keywords

• Federal property disposal
• Real estate advisory
• Government asset management
• Public building reform
• Federal portfolio optimization

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Public Buildings Reform Board identifies and recommends federal civilian properties for sale and disposition to reduce costs, modernize federal workspaces, and revitalize local communities. Its core deliverable is formal reports (High Value Asset Report, First Round Report, Second Round Report, and interim reports) submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for approval, recommending specific federal buildings for divestment based on utilization analysis and deferred maintenance liabilities.

Product overview

The Public Buildings Reform Board is a federal advisory board (not a commercial product company) that produces reports and recommendations for the disposition and consolidation of underutilized federal properties. Its primary offerings are formal reports to the Office of Management and Budget: the High Value Asset Report, First Round Report, Second Round Report, and periodic Interim Reports. These reports analyze federal real estate portfolios, identify properties suitable for divestiture, and recommend strategies for reducing government real property inventory and maintenance costs. PBRB also conducts public meetings and stakeholder engagement sessions to gather input on proposed dispositions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• High Value Asset Report PBRB's first formal report recommending 12 high-value federal properties for disposal, originally submitted in October 2019 and approved by OMB after resubmission in January 2020. Aimed at federal decision-makers evaluating high-priority disposition candidates.
• First Round Report PBRB's second formal report recommending 15 additional federal properties for disposition, submitted December 27, 2021, and rejected by OMB on January 25, 2022. Aimed at OMB and federal stakeholders evaluating broader portfolio rationalization.
• Second Round Report PBRB's third major report containing 11 federal properties recommended for disposition, approved by OMB in May 2025 with projected $5.4 billion in potential savings. Aimed at OMB, GSA, Congress, and local stakeholders.
• Interim Report: Deferred Maintenance in GSA's Portfolio Interim report published March 5, 2026 quantifying up to $50 billion in deferred maintenance liabilities across GSA's federal real estate portfolio and framing the funding shortfall versus industry maintenance standards. Aimed at Congress, OMB, and the public.
• PBRB Interim Report to Congress (March 2024) Congressional interim report documenting PBRB's activities, underutilized property analysis, and portfolio optimization recommendations. Directed at Congress, OMB, and GSA leadership.
• Public Meetings and Hearings Regular public meetings convened by PBRB across U.S. cities to review progress, solicit public comment on properties under consideration for divestment, and provide a public forum on federal real estate management. Aimed at federal agencies, local municipalities, real estate brokers, and citizens.

Quantifiable outcome

• PBRB has recommended disposal of properties worth more than $450 million
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBRB has worked with commercial real estate firm Jones Lang Lasalle to analyze and identify costs associated with the current federal real estate portfolio in selected markets and modeled the cost savings that could be achieved through various actions such as consolidations into leased spaces and dispositions.
• General Services Administration (GSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBRB works closely with GSA to prepare disposition recommendations. GSA executes approved dispositions through its Public Buildings Service. PBRB uses GSA's portfolio data and works with GSA to identify underutilized properties.
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBRB submits all recommendations to OMB for approval as required by FASTA. OMB approval letter is required before properties can proceed to Congress for notification and disposition.
• Federal Landholding AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBRB works with various federal agencies to identify properties in their portfolios that should be divested. Agencies include Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, and others.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Office of Management and Budget (OMB): OMB is the approving authority for PBRB recommendations and a core distribution channel. While not a peer in the commercial sense, it is functionally interdependent - OMB approval is the critical bottleneck for every recommendation round, making it the most institutionally linked entity to PBRB's success.
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft (Public-Private Infrastructure): Major law firms with public-private infrastructure practices (including Ballard Spahr, where board member Winstead works) provide the legal frameworks for federal real estate disposition. While not a direct competitor, the legal/infrastructure advisory ecosystem is materially comparable to the regulatory expertise that surrounds PBRB's work.
• Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL): JLL is PBRB's stated commercial real estate analysis partner, providing the cost modeling and market analytics behind PBRB's recommendation lists. While JLL is a private-sector firm rather than a government body, it plays a comparable advisory role on federal property optimization and shares subject-matter overlap in federal real estate consulting.
• Federal Real Property Association (FRPA): FRPA is a professional association for federal real property managers on whose board PBRB member Dan Mathews serves. It operates in adjacent professional territory to PBRB - advocating for federal real estate management improvements - making it a thematically related ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• CBRE Group: CBRE is one of the world's largest commercial real estate services firms with a dedicated government/public-sector advisory practice. It competes with JLL in providing the cost analysis, lease modeling, and disposition advisory that government entities like PBRB depend on, making it an adjacent incumbent in the federal real estate advisory market.
• Cushman & Wakefield: Cushman & Wakefield provides commercial real estate services including government sector advisory, valuation, and asset disposition support. As a major CRE firm with public-sector clients, it parallels JLL (PBRB's partner) and represents alternative advisory capacity that could substitute for or complement PBRB's external analysis work.

Direct peers

• Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC): BRAC was an independent federal commission, like PBRB, with statutory authority to recommend disposition of underutilized military installations. Both are bipartisan, time-limited federal bodies that rely on OMB-Congress-GSA-style approval chains and produce formal round-based property disposition recommendations - the closest structural analog to PBRB's mandate.
• GSA Public Buildings Service (PBS): GSA's Public Buildings Service is the operating counterpart to PBRB - it manages and ultimately executes the disposition of the federal civilian real estate portfolio that PBRB recommends. PBRB works closely with PBS and several PBRB board members (Winstead, Mathews) are former PBS Commissioners, making PBS both PBRB's primary execution partner and closest operating peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-buildings-reform-board

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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