The 697k SF office campus that used to be part of AOL's world headquarters is back on the market, and Bisnow has learned exclusively that Comcast just signed a lease in the project this week. Defense contractor Raytheon occupies 600k SF of the building.
CBRE SVP Tom Cleaver is leading the brokerage team representing owner Chambers Street Properties, and he told Bisnow this afternoon Raytheon just signed a five-year extension on their lease, keeping them in place until 2026. Comcast signed for 30k SF, bringing the property up to 91% leased. It also includes 22 acres of land that could be built up with more office (maybe a Raytheon expansion?) or even a data center.
Loudoun's office sector—particularly its suburban office parks—have been the slowest to recover since the real estate downturn in 2010. But Tom says the fact that Pacific Corporate Office was built for AOL's worldwide HQ in 2002 means "the quality is far superior to what you’d find in a typical office product."
CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust, before it changed its name to Chambers Street, paid AOL $144.5M for the property in 2010 after Raytheon signed on. Now that Raytheon has re-upped and occupancy is over 90%, Chambers is trying to maximize the asset's value, Tom says.
Since Raytheon's moved in, it's invested millions of dollars in upgrading the property to fit the needs of its Intelligence and Information Services HQ. The business they're in is one of the keys to Northern Virginia's economy in the 21st century: cybersecurity.
The project is also a quick drive to Wegmans and won't be far from the Silver Line's Phase 2 extension.
