Government Solutions
Government real estate expertise
Government is the largest real estate sector in the United States and it is also the most complex. To successfully navigate layers of regulations, you need a partner with the right industry relationships and experience with government procurement. By partnering with Colliers, you have access to the industry’s only comprehensive service platform focused solely on government real estate.
Our services
Property investors are looking for an edge in leasing space to the federal government. They want someone to guide them through the sometimes murky process, determine how to create winning proposals, maximize asset value and ensure that the lease will stand the test of time. Colliers Government Solutions makes the process manageable and we help position our clients to achieve successful results.
We understand government acquisition regulations and the strict performance requirements of the federal lease form. Our team does more than just execute transactions – we pride ourselves on ensuring each lease’s long-term integrity. We stay abreast of all changes in government policy and procedure to advise our clients how to plan, budget, and position their properties to attract and retain federal tenants. Our mission is to provide integrated services that maximize property value and exceed our clients’ investment objectives.
In an uncertain global economy, investors and lenders are favoring the security of government-leased investments. Federal, and even certain state- or municipal-leased assets provide solid credit but underwriting the lease structure can be foreign to many investors and their capital sources. To yield the highest value and best deal execution, Colliers Government Solutions offers a team of capital markets professionals specializing solely in the sale and financing of government-leased properties.
The Government Solutions team accelerates clients' success by providing a deep understanding of factors associated with government-leased real estate, utilizing local market knowledge and leveraging Colliers’ national presence. Our business strategy is geared capital markets services tailored to government-leased properties nationally. We help our clients reach thousands of government property investors and lenders throughout the United States and overseas.
Skilled property management is vital to owners of government-leased properties. The manager is the owner's day-to-day representative and the primary interface with the government tenant. No one has a greater influence on the agency's satisfaction and, ultimately, the probability of renewal. Colliers understands this and that is why we have developed a property management service tailored specifically to government-leased properties.
As part of the Colliers Government Solutions platform our property managers are trained specifically to administer government leases and resolve common conflicts. We keep our management team abreast of changes in the government's leasing policy and we ensure our budgets anticipate future capital needs relating to evolving requirements. Most importantly, we manage properties well. Colliers Real Estate Management Services implements best practices learned from the management of more than 1 billion square feet worldwide.
A unique feature of government leases is that they typically require the property owner to be responsible for the tenant’s buildout or alterations, both at the outset of the lease and throughout its term. Therefore, it’s essential to have a skilled project management team on call. Colliers Government Solutions provides skilled project managers but we take the service a step further: we provide professionals experienced with the unique challenges of these government assignments, such as small business subcontracting, managing multiple stakeholders within GSA and the tenant agencies, and keeping to the schedule.
On-time completion is essential, especially when the government’s lease commencement is predicated on acceptance of their finished space. The government sector is rife with stories of cost overruns and interminable delays. The Colliers team knows how to keep things on track. We create a positive and collaborative working relationship with the government early in the process, actively leading the technical aspects of the design, construction, and occupancy in order to achieve the project objectives. We also make life easy for all parties by planning and coordinating all project deliverables, approvals, budgets, schedules, control mechanisms, resource requirements and communications.
Project management doesn’t have to be a headache. In fact, it can be a profit center. Let us show you how Colliers can manage your project—any size, anywhere in the nation.
Proven performance
Government is the largest real estate sector in the United States, and it may also be the most complex. Navigating layers of statutes, executive orders and regulations requires a partner with the right industry relationships and experience.
Recent transactions
Government Leasing Experts
One of the founding partners of the Government Solutions practice group, Charles Dilks has more than 23 years of commercial real estate experience. Charles began his career as an analyst and research associate and brings an analytical and strategic approach to government real estate transactions.
Drawing on his technical real estate background, Charles has specialized in representing institutional owners in complex government transactions. He has represented landlords such as Brookfield Office Properties, AEW, JP Morgan Asset Management, Carr Properties, Beacon Capital Partners, MRP Realty, Lowe Enterprises and Rockpoint Group. Charles has represented many of these clients for more than a decade and, in some cases, in multiple markets. As a result of these enduring relationships, Charles has negotiated government leases across the United States, in cities as large as Los Angeles and as small as Aberdeen, South Dakota. He has brokered complicated federal government leases with agencies such as Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Prior to joining Colliers International, Charles was Senior Vice President of the Government Services Group at Grubb & Ellis Company. Charles also has extensive experience in tenant representation for clients including The Boeing Company and IBM.
Charles began his career as Research Associate for The Council for Urban Economic Development. During this time, he authored an 180-page EPA-funded training manual to teach economic development practitioners and real estate professionals how to clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, or "brownfields." Charles also advised the City of Wilmington, Delaware, on the feasibility and economic impact of a sports arena. He has authored numerous economic outlook and real estate forecasting reports based on analysis of employment statistics, economic indicators, and proprietary real estate databases. Charles is Magna Cum Laude graduate of Bates College.
Keith Lavey brings 20 years of commercial and government real estate experience. This includes managing several multi-market accounts for both institutional landlord and federal government clients, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Landlord clients include Brookfield, LBA Realty, Brandywine Realty Trust and JBG Smith.
Before joining Colliers International, Mr. Lavey was Senior Vice President of the Government Services Group at Grubb & Ellis. Keith was the primary point of contact for Grubb & Ellis’ GSA Schedule Contract and managed federal accounts involving research and transactions work across the United States. He began his career in the field of commercial real estate research with Smithy Braedon, a boutique brokerage firm in Washington, DC. Keith is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
A member of the Government Solutions practice group, Matt Johnston has well over a decade of experience assisting clients with complex real estate transactions. Matt’s career has focused largely on transactions with the General Services Administration and other federal, state and local agencies, including leases, acquisitions and dispositions, and property exchange transactions. Matt has extensive experience with financing build-to-suit projects for governmental tenants and a deep understanding of the issues unique to purchases and sales of properties leased to government agencies.
Prior to joining Colliers International, Matt practiced for ten years as a real estate attorney at Arnold & Porter LLP. In addition to government real estate, Matt maintained a broad-based transactional practice, focusing on the financing, acquisition, development, leasing, and disposition of commercial real estate. Matt also counseled owners and tenants in all phases of the design and construction process.
Matt graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and subsequently earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Jarrett brings more than 15 years of commercial real estate experience to the Government Solutions practice group, offering transaction and Federal procurement policy expertise to tenants and landlords in the public and private sector. Jarrett has completed over $1.3 billion in federal leasing transactions, totaling approximately 2.8 million square feet of space with a variety of Federal government agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense, Securities Exchange Commission, United States Secret Service, and U.S. Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Jarrett also has an extensive background in investment sales and has participated in approximately $11 billion of investment sale transactions across all property types including office, multifamily, hospitality, senior living, and retail.
Prior to joining Colliers International, Jarrett was a Senior Associate with CB Richard Ellis’ Global Corporate Services team in Washington, where he worked on the national broker contract for the General Services Administration (GSA) and the national real estate services contract for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Jarrett served as a primary liaison to GSA Management, Contracting Officers, Realty Specialists and General Counsel.
Jarrett was also a Vice President for Eastdil Secured, participating in $11 billion of investment sale transactions and as a company lead on the firm’s FDIC account assisting the Agency with bank valuation. Prior experience includes project management at Monument Realty in Washington, D.C., and as the Director of Acquisitions for DT Ventures Real Estate Investments in Los Angeles, CA.
Jarrett began his career in the financial services industry working with Strategic Fixed Income, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Company, and Morgan Stanley.
Victoria Abbasi represents institutional owners across the United States in a variety of government real estate transactions and consulting assignments largely involving the General Services Administration (GSA). With eight years of experience, Victoria specializes in preparing offers for submission through GSA's Lease Offer Platform: Automated Advanced Acquisition Platform (AAAP) and Requirement Specific Acquisition Platform (RSAP).
Victoria began her career with the Government Solutions team as the Marketing Coordinator. She was a recipient of the Service Excellence Award, which recognizes individuals who consistently create memorable outcomes for their clients and colleagues. In 2021, she was recognized by Commercial Real Estate Women Washington D.C. (CREW DC) as an Emerging Leader. She is heavily involved in the commercial real estate industry, including mentoring young professionals and currently serves on the CREW DC Board of Directors as Secretary.
Cecilia Kane joined the Government Solutions practice group as a Client Services Coordinator in April 2021. While her primary responsibilities originally included marketing initiatives, database management, and administrative tasks, she has since grown in her role to also assist with the early stages of the General Services Administration (GSA) procurement and transaction process. Supporting a team of five brokers with a diversity of client relationships, federal agency experience, and market expertise, Cecilia has developed exceptional communication, organizational, and prioritization skills. She is currently working to earn her Real Estate Salesperson License in Virginia.
Prior to joining Colliers, Cecilia served as an Environmental Communications Specialist at the environmental consulting firm Eastern Research Group, where she supported their federal contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Cecilia is a magna cum laude graduate of Colgate University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Geography and Spanish.
Government Capital Markets Experts
Will Bradley is an Executive Vice President for Colliers International specializing in investment sales across the country. With over 15 years of experience and $1+ billion in sales, Mr. Bradley brings a holistic strategic approach to his client’s goals and needs facilitated through a highly sophisticated and creative process that provides unparalleled results and long-term, multi-transactional relationships.
Mr. Bradley’s relationships with a wide composition of capital from institutional to high-net-worth and experience transacting across a variety of asset types including office, industrial and flex assets provide him a unique perspective in today’s capital markets. Prior to joining Colliers International, Mr. Bradley spent a decade with CBRE where he grew from the region’s sole analyst to its #1 producer.
Mr. Williford specializes in investment sales transactions nationally with a primary focus on the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast and brings an unparalleled level of passion and expertise to the business. With 10 years of commercial real estate experience, he has successfully represented private, high-net worth and institutional clientele in the successful disposition of industrial, office, retail and mixed-use assets totaling over $1.2 billion across 10 states.
Prior to joining Colliers International, Mr. Williford was a Director at HFF in Denver, Colorado, one of the largest and most successful commercial real estate capital intermediaries serving the United States and Western Europe. Prior to joining HFF, Mr. Williford was a leasing broker with SullivanHayes focused on tenant and landlord representation, where he completed more than 500,000 square feet of lease transactions.
Government Property/Project Management Experts
Todd Willett is the Regional Managing Director of REMS|Virginia and oversees and coordinates a team of real estate managers and support staff responsible for over 50 million square feet of office, flex, industrial, and retail assignments. Todd has 25 years of experience and joined the firm in 1998. Previously he was with a real estate development company for nine years where he was responsible for development, property management, accounting and administration for office buildings, medical centers and industrial properties. In addition, Todd spent three years managing residential properties in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. In Northern Virginia, he was responsible for 3,000 residential properties which consisted of single family homes, apartments and condominiums. In the Hampton Roads area, Todd was responsible for 500 resort homes and condominiums. Todd is a Certified Property Manager and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Virginia Wesleyan College. He recently served as the Regional Vice President of the Institute of Real Estate Management.
After having spent 11 years in prior roles heavily focused in local, state, and federal government clients and projects, James joined the firm in May 2016 as a project manager. In this role he primarily focused on privately-owned buildings leased by the GSA and managed by the firm throughout the country. He has completed projects such as the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital Campus a $1.12 billion project, covering 1.3 million square foot, including a 120 bed 7 story hospital tower.
In June 2019, James was promoted to Senior Director of Project Management where he now oversees the Virginia offices as well as our Government Solutions Group.