The D.C. office market struggled in Q3 as many tenants delayed lease decisions, but one law firm with an expiring lease decided to move a few blocks northwest.

Mintz, Levin signed a 57K SF lease to relocate from 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW to 555 12th St. NW, Savills confirmed to Bisnow.

Savills' Steve London, Lois Zambo and Steven Tassi represented the tenant in the deal, and the firm included it in its Q3 market report. The deal was also listed in the market report from Cushman & Wakefield. C&W's Brian Raher, Michael Katcher and Kyle McFadden manage leasing for the 555 12th St. NW building.

The deal had been initiated before the coronavirus pandemic and the firm kept its footprint roughly the same size, Savills Research Manager Devon Munos said.

"We're seeing a trend of a lot of law firms renewing and contracting, but in this case that was not the case," Munos said. "They relocated, and I'm sure they got really good terms."

Savills didn't immediately respond to questions regarding the terms of the lease.

The law firm — whose full name is Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC — had been in the 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW building since 1991. It signed a 10-year renewal for its 55K SF space in that building in 2010, leaving it with an expiring lease this year.

The 782K SF office building at 555 12th St. NW, known as the Thurmond Arnold Building, sits one block from Metro Center in D.C.'s East End submarket. It was previously anchored by law firm Arnold & Porter, which signed a deal in 2014 to relocate to 601 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

The Thurmond Arnold building is owned by a joint venture of MetLife and Norges Bank Investment Management, which paid $505M for it in 2014 with plans to renovate the property. The landlord in 2016 signed a 93K SF lease with FTI Consulting and a 120K SF deal with Macfadden. The building still has about 119K SF available, according to Cushman & Wakefield's listing on LoopNet.

The 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW building that Mintz, Levin is departing is part of the Market Square mixed-use complex, which is owned by Columbia Property Trust.