Alexandria – CarrAmerica Realty Corp. has committed $141.5 million for purchase of a five-structure waterfront property portfolio accounting for about 590,000 square feet of space for. The office portfolio, located in Old Town Alexandria along the Potomac River, consists of four buildings at Canal Center Plaza, and the building down the street at 1188 North Fairfax Street. As part of the transaction, the Washington, DC-headquartered REIT will take on $63.5 million in debt.
Ballston – The Qwest Building at 4250 North Fairfax Drive was sold on June 28, 2002 to Beacon Capital Partners Inc. of Boston, Mass. Beacon Capital paid $62 million for the 14-story Skidmore Owings & Merrill-designed office building. The sale price per rentable square foot was $202.61. Qwest Communications International Inc. will continue to occupy floors 1-10, some 224,472 square feet, while floors 11-14, with 81,528 square feet, are available through Beacon.
Clarendon/Courthouse – Construction on The Hartford, a $53 million, 212,000-square foot office building going up at 3101 N. Wilson Boulevard, has topped out, according to the project's developers. The 9-story office structure includes 16,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, and will be connected to a $15 million, 70-unit residential building via a 3-floor underground parking garage. Office space in the Clarendon area building is being leased at about $34 per square foot.
Clarendon/Courthouse – Experience Works Inc. will occupy 23,400 square feet on the 10th floor at Courthouse Plaza 1, located at 2200 Clarendon Blvd. in Arlington. The lease was signed June 1st and the tenant takes occupancy January 1, 2003.
Northern Virginia –Due to limited demand from Northern Virginia’s recent market drivers – technology firms and business services – the market has anxiously been waiting for the reemergence of defense, a traditional engine of growth. The defense industry had been expected to serve as the new engine, but this has not yet occurred. Approximately $6 billion has been awarded to defense contractors, but less than 3% has been funded and, as a result, contractors have been reluctant to expand their facilities in Northern Virginia until the work is guaranteed. Further, although many of the region’s larger defense contractors have acquired smaller firms in order to establish themselves in a particular market niche (e.g. Anteon’s purchase of Vector and Sherikon), they have merely occupied the smaller company’s space, never adding net new space. Thus far, only Crystal City experienced increased demand in the first half of the year from defense contractors as a result of 9/11. The delay in Congressional approval of the Spring Supplemental Budget has precluded company hiring and expansion of facilities. We now project a delay in the uptick in market activity until the fourth quarter 2002 or early 2003. Any rebound from these doldrums will depend upon funding the defense budget, since there is limited demand from any other sector.
Northern Virginia – The Transportation Security Administration is expected to start a search for 400,000 square feet of office space by the end of the month. It will immediately begin analyzing options for headquarters space in Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia.
Reston – Intellectual property law firm Greenblum & Bernstein, PLC will lease 48,354 square feet in the 76,087-square foot building at 1950 Roland Clarke Place. The firm's long-term lease comes with an option to buy the entire structure for an undisclosed fee, already negotiated with building owner Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Rosslyn – The Kaempfer Company joined forces with Kan Am/Westwind Capital Partners to acquire the 343,000-square foot class A 1300 Wilson Boulevard from TMW Real Estate Group-managed limited partnership US Property Fund GMBH & Co. KG of Germany for approximately $107 million.
Tysons Corner – Rushmark Properties LLC purchased 801 Follin Lane in Vienna, VA for an undisclosed price. Built in 1971, and renovated in 1991 and 1995, the complex includes a three-story office building totaling 226,221 square feet, an adjacent 35,000-square-foot warehouse, and additional land.
