Navy Laboratories: Issues Concerning the Naval Undersea Warfare Center's Suffolk Facility

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Navy Laboratories: Issues Concerning the Naval Undersea Warfare Center's Suffolk Facility

Briefly stated, our work showed that the original l9X7 justification for the building did reflect a desire to consolidate existing lease spaces and a growing workload, However, by the time the lease was signed, this growth had begun to overlap with Navy downsizing--including downsizing of the Norfolk detachment. The decision to build a new facility for long-term lease at that time was not a wise one. Other than informal discussions, we found no indication that other options were considered for acquiring space for a smaller detachment. In fact, according to General Services Administration (GSA) officials, the Navy could have canceled the lease even after construction began--a final option that also was not considered. As a result, unnecessary lease costs will be avoided only if tentative arrangements to have the lease taken over by another group are carried out on schedule. In addition to lease costs, the Navy incurred over $9 million in one- time relocation costs.