Fannie Mae, the government-backed lending giant, is reportedly looking to sell its headquarters in Washington D.C. in the next three years as it wants to consolidate its locations.
The mortgage company said, in an e-mailed statement, that it wants to shed its excess office spaces and would rather operate from a single location. The company has five leased and owned buildings in the city including its headquarters at 3900 Wisconsin Ave.
"In the next two to three years, we plan to consolidate Fannie Mae staff from five Washington, D.C. area offices into a single, leased office building located in downtown D.C.," Pete Bakel, a spokesperson for Fannie Mae, said in the statement, according to the Realtor Mag.
Fannie Mae is selling as two of its leases are expiring soon and this would give them the opportunity to gather their employees and work from a central location.
"While an exact location has not been determined, we are focused on making responsible real estate decisions to ensure the wise use of resources, the safety and soundness of operations, and flexibility to adapt to changes in our future workplace needs," Baker added.
Although Fannie Mae didn't say where it would be shifting, city's mayor Vincent Gray confirmed that the mortgage giant would stay in D.C.
"I thank the leadership of Fannie Mae for its commitment to stay in the District of Columbia as they consolidate their office space into one building," The Business Journal quoted Mayor Gray.
The news of the sale comes amid uncertainties about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's future. The two mortgage giants were rescued by the U.S. government after they were bogged down by bad home loans during the 2007-08 housing market crash.
While both the firms have returned to profitability now, the government has been contemplating on a re-haul of both the firms. The Congress wants to shift the burden of mortgages from the government firms and bring in more private players in the lending market.
However, Baker said that the reforms had no impact on the decision to sell the headquarters.
"At this point in time we're moving forward to help build a better system for the future," Bakel was quoted by the Washington Post.
"So we are just trying to improve everything about our business, including infrastructure, and part of that infrastructure is the housing of our operations," he said adding that any reform "doesn't play into our planning because we can't predict the future. I don't think anybody does."
