Rita K Secrest

Rita K. Secrest serves as a Realty Specialist within the Public Buildings Service’s Northern Region under the General Services Administration, where she plays a critical role in managing the acquisition and leasing of nonresidential federal real property. Her responsibilities include executing lease agreements, conducting space analyses, and ensuring compliance with federal realty policies to support mission-critical government operations. Secrest specializes in long-term property leasing transactions that align with GSA’s strategic goals of optimizing federal footprints, enhancing facility efficiency, and modernizing aging infrastructure. She interfaces with property owners, brokers, and legal counsel to negotiate terms that balance fiscal responsibility with operational needs, ensuring federal agencies are housed in secure, sustainable, and well-maintained environments. Secrest’s contracting activities are primarily conducted through direct lease negotiations with private property owners and commercial real estate firms, with no reliance on competitive bidding for non-residential space acquisitions. Her contractor relationships are characterized by direct, relationship-based engagements with commercial landlords and real estate intermediaries who possess portfolios of Class A and Class B office and institutional properties suitable for federal occupancy. These partnerships are typically transactional and focused on meeting specific space requirements rather than long-term vendor development. Secrest’s procurement profile reflects a 100% non-set-aside approach, indicating that all realty acquisitions are conducted under full and open competition without socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB preferences. This pattern is consistent with the nature of real property leasing, where eligibility is determined by physical space availability rather than vendor certification. Her primary focus is on NAICS 531120—Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings—which encompasses the acquisition of office space, administrative facilities, and mixed-use commercial properties for federal occupancy. She specializes in evaluating building systems, zoning compliance, accessibility standards, and energy performance to ensure leased spaces meet federal facility requirements under the GSA’s Real Property Standards.