Design and Construction Excellence In Leasing The U.S. General Services Administration, the federal government’s real estate manager, is expanding the principles of its highly successful Design and Construction Excellence Programs into build-to-lease projects with commercial development teams. At a Nov. 7 presentation in Chicago's Metcalfe Federal Building, GSA officials will describe how an emphasis on excellence resulted in collaboration with top architects and contractors to produce over 50 award-winning federal buildings and courthouses over the past 13 years. The same principles are now being introduced in GSA's design-build contracts. The presentation, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Morrison Room at the Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., is intended mainly for architects, construction contractors and developers. The program will include information about the selection process for future GSA lease construction projects in the Great Lakes Region.