Friday, Feb. 8, 2008
Business is booming at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which just signed a 75,000-square-foot lease in Rockville and is looking for a lot more space next year.
The agency, which regulates the nuclear power industry, radioactive waste disposal and nuclear security, is undergoing a major expansion that could help absorb a big chunk of speculative office space under construction in Montgomery County, said Jovi McAndrew, senior vice president with Transwestern’s Mid-Atlantic office in Bethesda.
‘‘They are doing due diligence now for 200,000 to 300,000 square feet of space in and around their [Rockville] headquarters,” he said.
In the meantime, the NRC is taking 75,000 square feet of space at 21 Church Street next to the Rockville Metro Station, which was completed in October by Rockville-based Investment Properties, said McAndrew, who brokered the deal. That leaves only the 6,000-square-foot first floor vacant on the 89,000-square foot building, a rare development in the current heavily speculative market.
‘‘As a building goes spec, obviously, landlords budget at least some—24 to 36 months at least—to fill it up.” McAndrew said. ‘‘The fact that this was leased in four months is a good sign.”
The NRC ‘‘liked that its people could jump on the Metro and go back and forth from its White Flint headquarters to the Rockville station,” he said. ‘‘It’s a good sign that the [General Service Administration] is still looking to lease in the area.”
Even more positive is the fact that the agency is ‘‘scrambling” to hire another 600 new workers, NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein said in a recent speech. Spurred by generous federal subsidies to the power industry, the agency is gearing up to process license applications for 27 new reactors in the next two years after a dearth of building requests since the partial meltdown of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979.
Montgomery makes pitch to lure NPR
Montgomery County has made a formal offer to lure National Public Radio to relocate its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, as the network narrows down its site selection.
The move follows passage of zoning legislation in November that would raise building height limits and density to make room for NPR, which said at the time that it would decide by the end of May where it would relocate. The network is looking for about 400,000 square feet for offices and studios.
‘‘We’ve presented them an offer,” said Patrick Lacefield, spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett. ‘‘When they might try to make a decision is unclear.”
County and state officials would not comment on how the offer was received or whether the package included cash incentives, loans or tax breaks.
‘‘We can’t talk about prospects,” said David W. Edgerley, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. ‘‘We don’t want to potentially embarrass them, embarrass ourselves and embarrass you.”
The Montgomery County Council on November 20 approved a zoning text amendment to increase building heights from 143 feet to 200 feet for developments that incorporate ground-floor retail in the South Silver Spring and Ripley District. The amendment would also allow buildings to be constructed even higher if they are used to ‘‘collect or radiate electromagnetic waves,” a provision that would allow NPR to build a transmission tower.
Andi Sporkin, a spokeswoman for NPR, said by e-mail that the media group is focused on sites in Silver Spring and two areas in the District, one north of Massachusetts Avenue Northwest and one near the new Washington Nationals ballpark along the Southeast waterfront. The network wants to consolidate its offices, which currently are spread over two buildings.
Sporkin wrote, ‘‘We’re continuing to evaluate properties in the three neighborhoods (NoMa, Southeast⁄Ballpark and Silver Spring). Beyond that, I can’t comment.”
Ground brokenfor The Summit
Touting its location and ‘‘amenity base,” Washington Property Co. of Bethesda broke ground Monday on the first of two Class A office buildings planned for The Summit at Washingtonian development in Gaithersburg.
The eight story, 200,000-square-foot building at the intersection of I-270 and Shady Grove Road is scheduled for delivery in March 2009. Wisnewski Blair & Associates of Alexandria , Va., designed the building, which will feature a modern design with a two-story, wood-paneled atrium lobby.
‘‘With its convenient location and access, strong amenity base and excellent visibility overlooking I-270, The Summit at Washingtonian will attract corporate users looking for premiere Class A office space,” said WPC president Charles K. Nulsen.
The structure is to receive the ‘‘Silver” certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its environmental attributes.
Staff writers Sean Sedam and Agnes Jasinski contributed to this report.
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