Progress is being made on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s plan to move Washington, D.C., production from its antiquated facility dating to 1914 to a new plant of a million square feet on one floor in the suburban Maryland community of Beltsville. The move could be in 2029.

Reporter Daniel J. Sernovitz offered an update in the Washington Business Journal of Nov. 17. The BEP is working in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers on the project, and took an important step with the issue of a draft 160-page environmental impact statement to which interested parties have until Dec. 21 to respond.

The new structure will be built on land already owned by the government, a 104-acre portion of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. It is expected to cost around $1.4 billion, and should save the federal government about $579 million over 10 years as compared to renovating the existing building at 301 14th St. SW in the city. A one-floor design will increase efficiency exponentially in comparison to the current multi-floor operation.

The Treasury asked for $30 million in the BEP’s fiscal year 2021 budget for work related to the site, including moving Department of Agriculture operations currently conducted at the site prior to work commencing. No date for groundbreaking has been projected.

Once completed, 1,600 employees will be relocated to Beltsville, but the BEP’s administrative operations will remain in Washington at the current building. The BEP Annex at 300 14th St. SW will probably be transferred to the General Services Administration as surplus property. Another warehouse in Landover, Maryland, will no longer be needed as warehouse space will be integrated into the Beltsville operation.

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