GSA's Sale of a Surplus Federal Warehouse in Shelby, Ohio

Gao ID: GGD-85-38 March 14, 1985

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO investigated the General Services Administration's (GSA) sale of a surplus warehouse in Ohio.

GAO found that: (1) 9 months after rejecting a $2 million bid for the warehouse, GSA sold it for approximately $1.3 million; (2) GSA rejected the higher bid for the warehouse because its independent appraisal indicated that the fair market value of the building was substantially higher; (3) while further appraisals determined that the fair market value of the warehouse was slightly over $2 million, the cognizant GSA regional office accepted the lower bid to avoid incurring the costs and delay of a third sale; and (4) the regional office accepted the lower bid in the mistaken belief that it could accept a bid below fair market value without the approval of the GSA central office.



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