FBI headquarters could ‘reinvent’ Greenbelt and Prince George’s County

Local officials say the federal government has for years shortchanged Prince George’s County compared to its regional peers.

The Pentagon reshaped Northern Virginia. The National Institutes of Health anchors the life science industry in Montgomery County.

Some say that if it weren’t for decades of delay, and recent intervention by the Trump administration, the FBI’s new headquarters could have long ago anchored development here.

“It would have reinvented the Prince George’s County economy in a way that people just can’t imagine right now,” said David Iannucci, an attorney who helped lead negotiations under former County Executive Rushern Baker.

Now thanks to a federal judge’s ruling that blocked the Trump administration’s plans to keep the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., rather than relocate it to Greenbelt, Prince George’s County is back on track to begin what many believe will be the largest economic development project in county history.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang nodded to the potential boon Maryland and Prince George’s would miss out on if the headquarters were to remain in D.C.

“Plaintiffs will lose the opportunity to have the substantial benefits that would have a positive impact not just on individual private parties, but on the community in Prince George’s County,” Chuang wrote.

Proponents say the new headquarters will reshape the economy of Maryland’s second-most-populous county and transform the small, historic city of Greenbelt. The campus would be built next to the Greenbelt Metro Station.

“We really are hoping that this is gonna clear the way for construction of the modern, secure headquarters that the FBI really needs,” Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan said. “It’s long overdue.”

The FBI has resided at the District’s J. Edgar Hoover Building since 1974. The agency has outgrown the aging facility, where netting around the crumbling building protects pedestrians from falling debris, and sought to consolidate its operations in a more secure campus.

The U.S. General Services Administration first selected Greenbelt — along with Landover and Springfield, Virginia — in 2014 as a potential candidate to host the new headquarters.

Challenges ensued after the agency selected Greenbelt in 2023, including when Virginia’s representatives in Congress requested an inspector general’s investigation of the decision-making process.

In 2025, the Trump administration strayed from the agency’s decision and announced plans to instead move the FBI to the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown D.C.

Despite the judge’s ruling Monday, Maryland officials expect continued opposition from the Trump administration, including through a potential court appeal.

They shared little optimism of the project progressing with President Donald Trump in office.

But Maryland officials are also eyeing the economic boon the new headquarters would bring, spurring growth not only in Greenbelt but in communities along the nearby Metro and MARC Train rail lines, and potentially infusing billions into the state economy.

“This also becomes another linchpin to a larger economic development process that we’re hoping for,” Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday at the Annapolis Red Cross Blood and Platelet Donation Center.

The new headquarters is potentially coming alongside other recently touted projects that represent growing momentum for Maryland’s economy, especially in Prince George’s County.

Officials here are hoping to welcome a mini Sphere at National Harbor by 2030, and they’ve touted opportunities at the former site of Six Flags America in Bowie, which was purchased by an investment group that includes Prince George’s native and NBA superstar Kevin Durant.

The county is home to one of the world’s leading quantum computing research hubs, too, at College Park’s Discovery District. In September, the city will host the annual Quantum World Congress.

“The economic growth that we are seeing right now, it is real,” Moore said.

Richard Clinch, a University of Baltimore economist who helped write Prince George’s 2022 report on economic development strategy, said the county has lagged behind its peers in attracting well-paying professional services jobs, like those in IT, legal services, marketing and accounting.

The FBI headquarters would boost those fields. County Executive Aisha Braveboy has predicted the headquarters would add at least 7,500 jobs.

It would also reinforce the county’s position as a reliable government contractor, support development around transit lines and, Clinch said, help transform Greenbelt.

“It’s unambiguously good news for the county, the state and, in the long run, for the residents of Greenbelt, who will deal with construction and other issues and traffic, but [who] will see appreciation in housing, better retail opportunities and better job opportunities,” he said.

Iannucci described the potential changes in more drastic terms.

The headquarters could “reinvent” the local economy, he said.

“It would change neighborhoods, it would change stores, it would change shopping, it would change schools,” Iannucci said. “It would change all those things, none of it overnight, but over a 10- or 20-year period.”

Baker, who as county executive from 2010 to 2018 led Prince George’s push to secure the new headquarters, said he was also looking to change outside perspectives about the county.

Federal agents arrested his predecessor, Jack Johnson, who later served time in federal prison for extortion and bribery.

Baker saw attracting the FBI headquarters as part of the county’s turnaround story.

The former county executive also expects Prince George’s to begin feeling the effects of the pending headquarters project well before shovels hit the ground, citing his experience with the arrival of the MGM National Harbor casino and hotel years ago.

“The moment we signed a deal with MGM to come, development started happening around National Harbor in a way that we hadn’t seen before,” he said. “The same thing will happen at Greenbelt.”

But not all county residents are sold on the project. Some who spoke with The Banner at the Greenbelt Metro station Tuesday were skeptical.

They shared concerns about the FBI presence intimidating the county’s immigrant populations and questioned whether government money should instead be spent directly on housing and food services.

As county executive, Baker said he heard concerns about the government spending large sums on the new headquarters and the development leading to crowding on the Metro.

He said he would tell people the project is going to revamp areas beyond the physical headquarters, including at Metro stations, where he said there will be more places to shop, eat and spend time.

“Whatever your fears are, it’s not going to be as bad as you think it is,” he said. “In fact, it’s going to be more beneficial once you actually see it.”

Banner reporters Pamela Wood and Rondez Green contributed to this story.