David Winstead Appointed to Public Buildings Reform Board

David L. Winstead, an attorney in Ballard Spahr's Washington, D.C., office, has been appointed to the Public Buildings Reform Board. He was sworn in yesterday for a six-year term.

Mr. Winstead was nominated by former Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan, and his appointment was approved by the White House in March.

The Public Buildings Reform Board was established by the bipartisan Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016. The Board is tasked with identifying opportunities to reduce the amount of federally owned real estate and making recommendations for the sale of underutilized and vacant federal properties. According to recent data, the federal government owns more than 254,000 buildings, comprising 2.5 billion square feet of space. An estimated 77,000 of these buildings are underutilized, at a $1.7 billion annual cost to taxpayers.

Mr. Winstead has a long history of public service. He was previously the Commissioner of Public Buildings at the U.S. General Services Administration. In that role, Mr. Winstead was responsible for asset management, construction, and operations of a portfolio of 1,500 federal buildings, as well as 190 million square feet of leased space that accommodated more than a million federal workers. Mr. Winstead also served as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, where he oversaw the five transportation agencies under the Maryland DOT.

At Ballard Spahr, Mr. Winstead concentrates on real estate development and transactional matters, infrastructure issues, and public-private partnerships, as well as government contracts and regulatory matters. He represents a range of clients that includes private companies, national real estate enterprises, transportation entities, local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.