What the FBI move to Greenbelt means for Prince George’s County and the region

The FBI’s November announcement that it will be moving its headquarters from downtown DC to Greenbelt, Maryland, ended a long-running jurisdictional competition over the agency’s future and its coveted economic redevelopment potential (if a challenge fails to overturn the decision).

Now, the move promises to bring 7,500 jobs to Greenbelt, along with 61 acres of mixed-use development for the site itself, plus an additional million square feet of nearby development, presenting a huge opportunity to close our region’s east-west economic divide. The project would be a joint development between WMATA, Prince George’s County, and the federal government.

But the decision is not without its detractors–looking at you Virginia. However, advocates believe the site is ideally situated to alleviate historic equity issues and boost transit-oriented development (TOD) in Prince George’s County.

A region divided

The DC region’s east-west divide goes back decades and has been a long-standing concern for regional leaders. In 1999, the Brooking Institute released ‘A Region Divided,’ a groundbreaking report that detailed the socioeconomic costs of the east-west opportunity gap.

The report stated that: “The Washington region is divided by race, income, jobs, and opportunity, with the eastern half of the region carrying the area’s burden of poverty and social distress while the western half enjoys most of the region’s fruits of prosperity.”

Further, the Brookings report found that while Prince George’s County had a low poverty rate overall and a broad middle-class tax base, the county was also home to many families earning less than the area median income.

The income disparity persists to this day; according to the US Census Bureau, from 2018 to 2022, Montgomery County’s median household income was $125,583, while during the same period, Prince George’s was $97,935.

Regional job density and access are spread unevenly as well. Prince George’s County, along with the eastern part of DC, has had relatively inexpensive housing for a workforce that often makes an arduous commute to the west side of the region. This could be to downtown DC, to Montgomery County, especially along the I-270 corridor, or to Northern Virginia.

A report on the FBI headquarters from the Office of the County Executive, Prince George’s County bears out much of that point. The report found that while 20% of the region’s federal workforce lives in Prince George’s County, it hosts only 4% of federal jobs. It also explains that 72% of all County residents migrate out of the County every day for work, compared to 60% of Montgomery County residents who live and work in Montgomery.

“The placement of government centers on the west side of the Beltway versus the east side has led to those places literally being the wealthiest in our country, ” said Angie Rodgers, Prince George’s deputy chief administrative officer for economic development. “That’s the long-standing crux of the equity issue.” The FBI headquarters is one key way of redressing this imbalance, she said. It also provides an economic boost to Baltimore, since FBI employees will easily be able to take advantage of lower housing prices.

A more balanced land-use pattern reduces long commutes, enables more use of transit, and reduces car ownership. This isn’t just good for mobility but also has strong environmental benefits that will help Maryland achieve its climate goals, advocates say.

Moving the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt means at least 7,500 quality jobs, plus the service jobs these generate, to an area that desperately needs them. Even better for regional balance, Greenbelt lies on an underdeveloped convergence of transit options: the end of Metrorail’s Green Line into DC, the Camden line of the MARC commuter train, which links Baltimore, BWI, and DC’s Union Station, and currently three bus lines. This makes it easier for people to commute from a number of directions without using a car.

Boosting transit-oriented development

The transit-oriented redevelopment that the FBI’s plans facilitate has huge implications for Prince George’s County job growth, sustainability, and regional mode share goals—turning one of the most underutilized Metro stations into a large, modern mixed-use development. The FBI redevelopment is adjacent to “over 1 M SF of planned mixed-use development,” according to the Office of the County Executive, Prince George’s County. The land is “all surface parking lot right now,” said Rodgers, but that means the redevelopment potential is that much greater.

The redevelopment could turn a blighted area–typical of many suburban Metro stations–into a mixed-use mecca. “How do we really create a place here?” asked Drew Morrison, policy advisor at the Maryland Department of Transportation. “We would be getting rid of some of that surface parking and turn it into more productive uses,” said Rodgers. However, Morrison emphasized that plans are still in their early stages, so the question is how to best redevelop from scratch.

The key opportunity in the FBI’s relocation is the site’s rich transit access. The new headquarters will be a .1 mile walk to both Metrorail and commuter rail, less than half an hour by Metrorail from Gallery Place in downtown DC and about 40 minutes from downtown Baltimore by MARC train. It’s also a three-minute hop, by train, to the future College Park/UMD Purple Line station, further extending the transit network west and east.

The sites’ rich transit assets could be made even better, something local and state partners are committed to doing. For the MARC Camden line, which stops at Greenbelt next to the FBI site: “One of the great opportunities is it connects into Union Station downtown, and through connections to VRE or Amtrak, it can connect you to Virginia including Quantico,” said Morrison. This is already in the works with a plan to add all-day and weekend service (budget cuts have removed similar improvements to the Brunswick Line but not the Camden Line).

Having the Camden line “run more frequently and over longer hours [will] transform it from what has traditionally been a 9-5 commuter service to a 24/7 transportation option,” said Brian O’Malley, president and CEO of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance. The incentive is now in place to move the plan quickly forward and perhaps even expand it.

O’Malley also stressed the need for more frequent service, for instance, on the Green Line, for which trains currently run every six to eight minutes. The relocated headquarters will also help balance north-south commutes. “In the morning commute, there’s a lot of ridership inbound and not as much outbound, and in the evening, it’s the reverse,” said O’Malley. An infusion of jobs in Greenbelt would even out the ridership.

Redevelopment could also be integrated into Prince George’s recently launched Transit Vision Plan to provide a comprehensive revision of its bus and rail systems. Rodgers also emphasized plans for better integration of the MARC stations to easily access different modes seamlessly, with an improved station hall. A new bus loop will further integrate transit.

Finally, service frequency could be improved on the three existing Metrobus lines that currently serve the area. The crucial C2, providing east-west service, currently arrives at Greenbelt every 15 to 25 minutes, the local 11 The Bus comes every 30 minutes and ends service early, while the local 16 follows a similarly limited schedule. O’Malley mentioned the need for bus lanes and service enhancements, though increased bus service isn’t currently part of the redevelopment plan.

Advocates are excited about the opportunity to make the area walkable, but caution it needs to be fully redesigned to maximize the comfort and safety of walkers and bicyclists.

Getting to TOD

The next question is how to develop the blighted land that is well-served by transit into a mixed-use, walkable, bikeable mecca. The FBI site is currently owned by WMATA, “and our understanding is that it will be developed by the General Services Administration for the FBI after purchase from WMATA,” said Morrison. The surrounding land is also owned by WMATA and will be used for replacement transit facilities as well as private development.

Brian O’Malley, of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, suggested the need for better bus stops with safe, comfortable access, as well as secure storage for bicycles, and showers for bike commuters within buildings to make the redevelopment successful for getting folks out of their cars.

Morrison also notes that the redevelopment will have environmental co-benefits by facilitating processes like stormwater management upgrades.

The redevelopment is a huge undertaking, but Prince George’s County has had recent experience in TOD, said Rodgers, both at New Carrollton and at Branch Avenue with arrival of the US Citizenship & Immigration Services building. The county is also in the midst of an ambitious TOD program along the Blue Line.

By integrating transit access with mixed land use, and boosting economic development where it’s most needed, the FBI headquarters move should benefit the whole region.

“Zooming out a little bit, it’s really important when the government prioritizes putting its jobs accessible by public transit,” said O’Malley.

Morrison emphasized that Greenbelt is ideally positioned for the new headquarters: “We have a site that is ready and prepared to be redeveloped. It’s in the right place, it has that range of transit assets. Both the county and the state are poised with the resources to help make this development come together.”