Rendering from JBG Cos. JBG Cos. of Chevy Chase plans to spend $270 million renovating the 1960s-era Parklawn complex in Rockville, where about 3,000 federal health employees work.

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The JBG Cos. of Chevy Chase came out the winning bidder again as the General Services Administration reaffirmed its decision to keep some 3,000 federal Health and Human Services Department workers at the company's Parklawn office building in Rockville.

The developer won a 15-year lease for 935,000 square feet, worth about $450 million, at 5600 Fishers Lane. The GSA decision rejected the appeals of three losing bidders, some of whose objections had been supported by the federal Government Accountability Office.

The award has been a hotly contested one between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, with some of the losing bidders — and Prince George’s officials — trying to land the project there.

The lease award "was a sound business decision” based on weighing costs against location, said Cathy Kronopolus, public buildings service regional commissioner for GSA’s national capital region.

"GSA used our Best Value methodology for the selection, which allows us to balance price with the qualities and features we seek in a location," she said in a statement. "Parklawn will provide first-class office space, in an environmentally sustainable building, proximate to a Metrorail station, at a good value for the American taxpayer."

The GAO had concluded in June the bids should be reviewed again after protests lodged by the King Farm complex in Rockville owned by Penrose of Vienna, Va., and competing proposals by One Largo Metro LLC, controlled by Peter Ng Schwartz Management Co., and Metroview Development Holdings LLC in New Carrollton. The University Town Center complex in Hyattsville was not reconsidered because its owner did not appeal the original award to JBG.

The losing bidders still have an opportunity to further protest the GSA award to JBG through the GAO, but the GAO would not unilaterally raise further objections, according to its legal counsel office. Calls to the losing bidders were not immediately returned.

In renewing the award for the Rockville location, the GSA said "offers were evaluated by weighing price against three factors: location, building characteristics and past performance/key personnel. Location and building characteristics shared equal value. Two sub-factors figured into location, access to Metrorail and access to amenities, with access to Metrorail as the most important of all sub-factors."

The agency emphasized that although all five bids fell within the price cap of $34 per square foot established for suburban Maryland, the "two offers in Montgomery County were significantly lower than those in Prince George’s County."

In fact, the competing Rockville bid at the King Farm complex initially had won the nod from the GSA's source selection evaluation board, and was affirmed by the agency’s source selection authority based on superior price advantage and access to amenities. But Kronopolus chose Parklawn based on the fact it is closer to the Twinbrook Metro station on the Red Line than the King Farm site is to the Shady Grove station, at the end of the same line.

JBG plans to spend $270 million renovating the 1960s-era Parklawn complex, which should be ready for occupancy in the summer 2014. The project "will involve the complete transformation of the building into a trophy-class sustainable office development," JBG said in a statement.

The company said the 18-story building will get a new curtain wall re-skin, all new building systems, and a 14-story atrium. Floor plans will be reconfigured to provide access to natural light for almost all of the office space. The facility is anticipated to attain gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

“For nearly 40 years, HHS has anchored the Twinbrook neighborhood," said Rod Lawrence, a JBG partner. "We are excited to offer them a sustainable and architecturally significant trophy asset as their home for the next 15 years."

With the renewed lease, JBG retains a strong anchor to its growing Twinbrook holdings, where the economy has forced it to extend its construction schedule. The HHS award follows JBG’s procurement of a new, 491,000-square-foot National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases headquarters to be built across the street.

On the northern side of Twinbrook Parkway, JBG is developing Twinbrook Station, which upon completion will include 325,000 square feet of office space, 220,000 square feet of street-front retail space and 1,595 multifamily residential units.

The affirmation of the Parklawn lease prompted vows by Prince George’s officials to land new deals. Their efforts to attract high-quality development have been impeded for decades by a reputation for high crime and poor schools.

County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) again complained that "25 [percent] of the region’s federal work force lives in Prince George’s County, but the county has under 4 [percent] of the federal office leasing space in the region."

"The private sector has begun to discover and invest in Prince George’s County at developments like National Harbor, the EYA Arts District in Hyattsville, and Konterra," Baker said in a statement. "It is important for the federal government to make a similar investment in our residents."

Baker urged the County Council to pass his proposed $50 million Economic Development Incentive Fund before the next federal office space process starts, so the county can have more tools and incentives to win the lease and create jobs.

"Prince George's County enjoys incredible geography with its proximity to the [capital], dedicated and educated work force, and available transit oriented development space around our Metro station," he said. "I am committed to ensuring that Prince George’s County we will aggressively compete for the next federal office leasing space opportunity."

Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Dist. 4) of Fort Washington, whose district includes most of Prince George's County and parts of Montgomery County, said she has spent three years in office "trying to understand leasing disparities in the metropolitan region. Today is no exception.

"Prince George’s County and our businesses are ready and open for economic development around our 15 metro stations when GSA decides to have a fair, open, and transparent process that balances competitively leasing opportunities in the metropolitan region,” Edwards said in a statement. “We will remain vigilant as opportunities avail themselves."

Starwood Capital Group buys Laurel hotel

Starwood Capital Group of Greenwich, Conn., acquired the 109-room Fairfield Inn in Laurel as part of a $155 million deal to buy 18 properties, according to seller Hersha Hospitality Trust of Philadelphia.

The deal will net Hersha $54 million after assumption of $92.4 million in debt by Starwood, including a $7.4 million outstanding mortgage balance on the Laurel hotel.

Verizon building in Harmans sells for $12.6M

An industrial building in Harmans fully leased to Verizon sold for $12.6 million, according to CB Richard's Ellis, which represented seller Stephen A. Goldberg Co. of Washington, D.C., in the deal.

American Realty Capital of New York bought the 40,000-square-foot property at 7549 Harmans Road, which is in Anne Arundel County. The building is immediately south of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Verizon has operated a truck dispatch center from the building since 1991 and recently signed a long-term lease extension.

"Industrial assets that are well located within the Baltimore-Washington Corridor continue to be attractive to investors," said Jonathan Beard, first vice president in CBRE’s investment properties group.

Leases on 15 Borders stores on auction block

Fifteen Borders stores are up for grabs in Maryland, under an auction of leases scheduled by DJM Realty of New York.

Bids are due Friday on the properties, which range in size from two mini-stores at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to a 30,487-square-foot store in Annapolis Mall. The bankrupt book seller has 386 retail and warehouse properties totaling 8.2 million nationwide on the auction block.

The Maryland properties:

Columbia Crossing, 6151 Columbia Crossing Circle, 28,000 square feet; Annapolis Mall, 30,487 square feet; downtown Silver Spring, 8518 Fenton St., 25,000 square feet; Milestone Commercial Center, 20926 Frederick Road, Germantown, 25,000 square feet; Riverview Plaza, 5533 Urbana Pike, Frederick, 25,000 square feet; Waldorf, 3304-A Crain Highway, 25,000 square feet; Center at Hagerstown, 23,000 square feet; Lutherville Station, 170 W. Ridgely Road, 21,000 square feet; White Marsh Mall, 8200 Perry Hall Road, Nottingham, 3,791 square feet; Westfield Montgomery, 7107 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda, 3,718 square feet; Country Club Mall, 1262 Vocke Road, Cumberland, 3,524 square feet; TownMall of Westminster, 400 N. Central St., Westminster, 3,185 square feet; The Mall in Columbia, 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway, 2,974 square feet; and BWI, 1,050 square feet and 1,042 square feet.