Nika

In January, Nika agreed to occupy 17K SF at 2000 Tower Oaks Blvd. in Rockville, where it will have its headquarters. Its destination, a nine-story building that was the region’s first LEED Platinum-certified office building, houses the HQs of Lerner Enterprises and The Tower Cos., which jointly developed the building.

Nika, a full-service architecture, engineering, enterprise technology and facilities operations management firm, specializes in medical and scientific institutions and often wins large government contracts.

The Halal Guys

Watch out Moby Dick House of Kabob. Stiff competition and a staple in many a New Yorker's diet, The Halal Guys is opening in Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville. Hoping to appeal to Muslims and college students in the area, the chain’s Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine replaces the local barbecue establishment Rocklands on Rockville Pike, which closed last month. The new restaurant is awaiting its permits and will likely be ready to open this summer.

Novavax

Last year, Maryland-based Novavax signed a lease for an Equus owned-and-operated 147K SF building in Gaithersburg. The clinical-stage biotech company also has facilities in Rockville and Sweden, but its headquarters resides in Montgomery County. It currently has clinical vaccine candidates aimed at preventing the spread of RSV, Ebola, the flu and the Zika virus in its product pipeline.

Abt Associates

Last year, represented by Cushman & Wakefield, Massachussets-based Abt Associates signed a lease for the full eight-story, 155K SF building at 6120 Executive Blvd. in North Bethesda. Near Pike & Rose, the high-profile tenant moving in April 2018 will help elevate the area’s image. Abt Associates is a top global research firm with 2,300 employees investigating health, social and environmental policy, climate change and international development.