Bear Mountainside Realty, LLC (7NJ2243)

B-419989.6,B-419989.7 Feb 28, 2023 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Bear Mountainside Realty LLC, a small business of Mountainside, New Jersey, protests the cancellation of General Services Administration (GSA) solicitation No. 7NJ2243, for commercial office space for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the area of Mountainside and Springfield, New Jersey. The protester contends that the agency's decision to cancel the solicitation lacks a reasonable basis and was a pretext to avoid awarding a lease to Bear Mountainside. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Bear Mountainside Realty, LLC File: B-419989.6; B-419989.7 Date: February 28, 2023 Gordon Griffin, Esq., Hillary J. Freund, Esq., and Richard Ariel, Esq., Holland & Knight, LLP, for the protester. Leigh Erin S. Izzo, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Samantha S. Lee, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency improperly canceled a solicitation is denied where the agency reasonably determined that the solicitation no longer reflected its requirements. DECISION Bear Mountainside Realty LLC, a small business of Mountainside, New Jersey, protests the cancellation of General Services Administration (GSA) solicitation No. 7NJ2243, for commercial office space for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the area of Mountainside and Springfield, New Jersey. The protester contends that the agency’s decision to cancel the solicitation lacks a reasonable basis and was a pretext to avoid awarding a lease to Bear Mountainside. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND For more than a decade, the IRS has occupied two leased office spaces in the area of Mountainside and Springfield, New Jersey;[1] the leases--referred to as “Mountainside” and “Springfield”--are currently held by GSA and expire this year. Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1; Agency Report (AR), Exh. B, Mountainside Lease­­ at 1; AR, Exh. C, Springfield Lease at 8; AR, Exh. C-1, Springfield Lease Amendment (transferring lease from the IRS to GSA).[2] The protester is the lessor for the Mountainside lease, but not for the Springfield lease. Protest at 2. In March 2019, the IRS submitted a request for leased office space to GSA. AR, Exh. A, Request for Space. The IRS identified a long-term requirement for a single property with 38,642 American National Standards Institute/Building Owners and Managers Association Office Area square feet (ABOA SF)[3] of office space and 34 parking spaces. Id.; COS at 1. With this requirement, the IRS “sought to combine and consolidate its Mountainside and Springfield offices into one lease location in” the area. COS at 1. GSA issued the first request for lease proposals (RLP) No. 7NJ2243 in May 2021. Protest at 6. Bear Mountainside protested the terms and conditions of the RLP with our Office, contending that the price requirements and evaluation criteria were unreasonable and unduly restrictive of competition. Bear Mountainside Realty LLC, B-419989, Aug. 5, 2021 (unpublished decision). In response, the agency canceled the solicitation, notifying our Office that “options not available to the [a]gency at the beginning of the procurement process have become available and warrant consideration,” and that the agency determined that “it is in the best interest of the Government to cancel the Request for Lease Proposals and consider additional options.” Req. for Dismissal, B‑4199891, Aug. 2, 2021. We dismissed the protest as academic. Bear Mountainside then protested the cancellation of the RLP. Bear Mountainside Realty LLC, B‑419989.2, B-419989.3, Oct. 6, 2021 (unpublished decision) at 1. The agency again notified our Office that it intended to take corrective action by and issuing an RLP “related to the subject procurement.” Id. Accordingly, we dismissed the second protest. On June 16, 2022, GSA issued the present RLP at issue here. The RLP--again identified as RLP No. 7NJ2243--described the same long-term requirement that the IRS had submitted in 2019. COS at 1. As with the previous version of the solicitation, the RLP provided for a lease term of “15 Years, 5 Years Firm,” with an option for an additional 5‑year term, with award made to the lowest-priced, technically acceptable offeror. AR, Exh. D, RLP at 4, 21; Protest, exh. 1, May 2021 RLP at 7, B-419989.1, July 15, 2021. Bear Mountainside submitted a timely proposal. Protest at 7-8. On September 30, GSA, which was continuing to evaluate proposals, emailed Bear Mountainside. Protest, exh. B at 2.