WHITE OAK, Md. — A dozen years ago, the closing of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in White Oak, a suburb of Washington, was met with a mixture of concern and hope. What would happen to the 662-acre military compound? Would the thousands of naval workers whose jobs were being shifted be replaced? Would the sprawling federal property be privately developed, or left fallow?

In the great chess game of managing the government’s properties, the

has moved into the gap, with a large-scale consolidation of its previously scattered labs and offices. The $1.15 billion project — which includes 14 new buildings totaling 3.1 million square feet of labs and offices — is also expected to become the anchor of a new biotech hub just outside the Capital Beltway...