A Nuclear Regulatory Commission building in White Flint is still not fully occupied months after the agency’s lease began. The NRC now says it does not need much of the space. (U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure)

Another federal agency has acknowledged leasing more space that it needs.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has long occupied two office buildings in White Flint, along Rockville Pike, and in 2009 agreed to lease an entire third building next door, 3 White Flint, at 11601 Landsdown S. in North Bethesda.

But like the Securities & Exchange Commission, which signed a 10-year, $556.8 million lease for what later turned out to be more than double the space it actually needed, the NRC now acknowledges that has not been using and ultimately doesn’t need much of the space in 3 White Flint and has asked the General Services Administration to advise it on how best to make use of the space in the future.

Amazon Web Services plans to add 500 I.T.-focused jobs in Fairfax County and open a new office in Herndon, economic development officials there announced Wednesday.

In return, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will offer the company money and services to help recruit and train workers. Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) approved a $500,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to help make the project happen.

National Labor College President Paula E. Peinovich announced Tuesday that the college had signed a tentative agreement to sell its 47-acre campus in White Oak to a partnership between Reid Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County.

Led by Rev. Lee P. Washington, Reid Temple has grown into one of the largest churches in the country, touting more than 10,000 members at locations in Glenn Dale and on Tech Road in Silver Spring. The Housing Opportunities Commission is a quasi-public organization that provides affordable housing and supportive services.

Peinovich said in an interview that the AFL-CIO-affiliated school planned to relocate to downtown Silver Spring to meet the changing needs of its students. She cautioned that the agreement, a letter of intent, provides a months-long period of exclusive negotiations but falls far short of a final sale.

“We are very excited that this property, should the sale go through — because it’s all very tentative at this point — we‘re excited that the property would be used by another non-profit, mission-driven organization,” Peinovich said.

Peinovich declined to name the sales price. She said she did not know what the organizations planned to build or how they would pay for the property. Calls to Reid Temple and the housing commission were not returned Tuesday evening.

CityCenterDC, the downtown project on the site of the old convention center, is under construction but subject to a dispute between the District and the Labor Department. (Jonathan O'Connell) The District government sued the Department of Labor Monday, seeking to overturn a ruling requiring higher wages for the construction of CityCenterDC as well as possibly other city economic development projects.

Construction on CityCenterDC, the massive downtown project on the site of the city’s former convention center, had already begun in June 2011 when the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Administrator ruled that its developers ought to be paying “prevailing wage” rates under the Davis-Bacon Act.

The inquiry began after the Labor Department received a petition from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters in 2009.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s administration fought the ruling administratively, with Victor L. Hoskins, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, saying the higher wages could add $20 million to the cost of CityCenter as well as millions more to real estate projects that receive land from the District government.

An affiliate of Blackstone Group, the New York private equity firm, will buy 23 industrial properties in Virginia, Maryland and the District as part of a sell-off of local property by Bethesda-based First Potomac Realty Trust.

With the sale, First Potomac makes another step in transitioning from an owner of large plots of industrial properties and suburban office parks to one more interested in office buildings in core employment areas.

In all, First Potomac will sell 4.3 million square feet for $259 million, it announced in a press release Monday. For $241.5 million an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII will buy the majority, about 4 million square feet that includes 16 assets totaling 2.6 million square feet in southern Virginia and seven others in Maryland and the District.

First Potomac will sell I-66 Commerce Center, in Haymarket, to Corporate Office Properties Trust, for $17.5 million.

Douglas J. Donatelli, chairman and chief executive of First Potomac, called the move in “the most critical step in our strategy of repositioning our portfolio to focus on high-quality office properties in the region.”

“We believe the sale, combined with the targeted portfolio management initiatives we have implemented, positions us well for continued growth in the greater Washington, D.C. office sector,” Donatelli said in the release.

Follow Jonathan O’Connell on Twitter: @oconnellpostbiz