Comstock Launches Data Center Platform: The D.C. Deal Sheet
Comstock Cos., known in the region for creating mixed-use districts along transit hubs in Northern Virginia, is getting into the data center business.
The Reston-based company announced Friday it has launched a data center platform and reached agreements to create large-scale data center campuses in Oklahoma and the mid-Atlantic. In both cases, the developable land is owned or controlled by Comstock's partners.
“We are pleased to announce Comstock's entry into the high-growth data center market and participation in one of the real estate industry's most exciting and rewarding sectors,” Comstock CEO Chris Clemente said in a release.
In the mid-Atlantic, Comstock will work to entitle parcels and provide site development services for a property owned by the Clemente family, the company's release says. It added that it has reached an agreement to sell the parcels to a “leading developer of data center campuses.”
The unnamed purchaser plans to acquire the parcels when they are entitled and power-supplied, Comstock said, and it would provide additional development services after the purchase. At full build-out, the data center could deliver more than 900 megawatts, Comstock said.
The developer's release didn't name the company or the specific locations of the parcels, and a spokesperson didn't respond to Bisnow's request for more information.
Comstock's mid-Atlantic holdings include large mixed-use developments next to two Northern Virginia Silver Line stations: Wiehle-Reston East and Ashburn. The latter is near the longtime industry hub known as Data Center Alley.
In Oklahoma, Comstock has entered into a joint venture with Jericho Energy Ventures to assemble a portfolio of land integrating around 18,000 acres of Jericho’s underground land and energy assets. Comstock has invested an initial $1.5M in Jericho, and Clemente will join its board.
MILESTONES
Jubilee Housing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its 52-unit affordable apartment building, Ontario Place, in Adams Morgan this week. The developer was joined by members of DC Green Bank, which provided a $2M loan for the development at 2400 Ontario Road NW. The building includes a rooftop aquaponics farm that will grow fresh produce. Last year, the project was the subject of a Washington Post investigation into affordable housing project budgets that said it cost $1.2M per unit to build.
SALES
A piece of the Watergate complex has sold for $52.5M, less than 40% of what it went for in 2017. Elme Communities offloaded 600 Watergate, a 309K SF office building, as it undergoes its liquidation process. The buyer was Jetset Hospitality LLC, led by Fabrice Souchaud, who purchased the property as part of a 1031 exchange. Stream Realty’s Matt Pacinelli, Charlie Smiroldo and Lukas Stanat represented Jetset, and JLL represented Elme.
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Inova Health System sold its former 240K SF Merrifield headquarters for $13M, the Washington Business Journal reported. Buchanan Partners purchased the property at 8110 Gatehouse Road in a deal that equates to $54 per SF. Inova put the property on the market in 2020 when it moved to the former ExxonMobil campus a mile away.
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The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority has purchased a 1.8-acre property next to The Boro development in Tysons and is partnering with an affordable housing developer to build around 525 units at the site. FCRHA paid $13.75M for the parcel at 8350 Leesburg Pike, which was foreclosed on in September. The county has a development agreement with Lincoln Avenue Communities to use the existing entitlements to build either one or two multifamily towers, which will include some measure of affordability.
PERSONNEL
The Bowser administration has hired a senior housing adviser. Danilo Pelletiere comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was the agency’s first multifamily investments division director, according to a LinkedIn post from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. His new role is his second stint in the D.C. government: He worked at the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development between 2016 and 2024, part of which he spent serving as D.C.’s affordable housing and preservation officer, according to his LinkedIn page.
