End may be sight for FBI's unloved Hoover building

Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington.

WASHINGTON — Just six blocks from the White House, the FBI's hulking headquarters overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue has long been the government building everyone loves to hate.

The verdict is that it's an ugly, crumbling concrete behemoth, an architectural mishap.

But in this time of tight budgets, massive deficits and the “fiscal cliff,” the 38-year-old building has one big thing in its favor.

It sits atop very valuable real estate, an entire city block midway between the Capitol and the White House.

The agency that oversees all federal buildings has issued an invitation to developers: How would you like to build a new headquarters for the FBI in a different location? In exchange, we'll consider throwing in the J. Edgar Hoover building and the underlying land as part of the transaction.