Can Anyone in Washington Do Simple Math?: New Homeland Security Facility Will Cost 17 Times More Than Washington D.C.'s Average Commercial Real Estate

BusinessWeek is reporting that the Homeland Security Department will be spending $4.5 billion on a new headquarters; that's up form the $3.9 billion the facility would cost in their initial report in April of this year.

From the April news story, we learn that the headquarters will be 4.5 million square feet.  That works out to over $866 per square foot.

$866 per square foot is more than 17 times the cost of the average real estate in Washington, D.C. which was $48 per square foot in 2010 according to this INC Magazine article.

No one is minding the store.