A technology company has officially opened 10,000-square-foot offices in Herndon.

Eqlipse Technologies, a company that provides products and engineering services to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, is set to celebrate its grand opening tomorrow (Thursday) at 2350 Corporate Park Drive.

Paul Frommelt, a spokesperson for the company, said the Herndon location was chosen because of its strategic location near major roadways, including Route 28, the Dulles Access Road and Fairfax County Parkway.

“The location…allows for employees from across the D.C. Metro area to conveniently commute into the office while enjoying our hybrid work options,” Frommelt wrote in a statement. “Additionally, we were able to build out our first-floor suite, taking advantage of modern workspace amenities, like collaboration spaces, vehicle charging stations and a gym for employee health and wellness.”

The company was formed by Arlington Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in March of this year.

“Eqlipse is launching with a strong foundation built on decades of history and experience working with our customers, a growing portfolio of proprietary technologies, and a cadre of world-class subject matter experts pushing the art of the possible every day,” David Wodlinger, a managing partner of Arlington Capital Partners, said in a statement.

Tysons is increasingly becoming a place where people live, but a recent market study from the Tysons Community Alliance raised some questions about its future as a place where people work.

Released on Aug. 4, the study paints divergent pictures of the two commercial sectors that have defined Tysons since the 1960s — office and retail — as they navigate a post-pandemic world of remote work and online shopping.

While retail visits in Tysons have returned to 92% of the 2019 average, foot traffic at office buildings is at 77% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the study, which was conducted by consultants HR&A, Toole Design and Wells & Associates.

That’s still better than D.C., where office visitation is at just 70% of pre-pandemic levels, but the study found that Tysons is seeing “somewhat slower employment growth” both in general and among office users than Fairfax County and the overall D.C. region — a lag expected to continue through 2028.

“Tysons grew more slowly than surrounding Fairfax County and the D.C. [metropolitan area] in the last three years and is projected to continue growing more slowly in the next five years,” a workforce growth analysis summary said, identifying health care as the industry projected to add the most jobs in Tysons over the next five years.

Even though over 85% of Tysons workers are in industries that traditionally use offices, led by 47,100 workers in the broad category of “professional services,” the area’s office vacancy rate has climbed from 14.8% in 2019 to 20% so far this year.

That exceeds the county’s 16.7% vacancy rate, which is a 10-year high, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority leaders told the Board of Supervisors at an economic advisory committee meeting on July 18.

Constituting 5.6 million of the area’s 27.6 million square feet of office space, the vacancies have particularly affected lower class, older offices built before 1990, suggesting a “preference for newer and nicer properties,” the study report says.

Despite the “historically high” vacancy rates, average rents have grown 24% since 2015 to match the D.C. area’s average of $39 per square foot, driven in part by the $65-per-square-foot asking price at the Tysons Central office building that was completed last year.

Tysons also has an additional 1.9 million square feet of office under construction or planned, though the majority of upcoming development is residential.

“If vacancies remain high, future deliveries could result in stagnant rents and continued high vacancy,” the report says. “For developers to fill pipeline office space, office-using jobs in Tysons need to grow at 1.4 times the projected growth of 3,300 jobs between 2023 and 2033.” Read More

(Updated at 9:05 a.m. on 7/26/2023) Fairfax County is currently the second largest suburban office market in the nation, with an inventory of 120 million square feet.

However, the current office vacancy rate sits at 16.7% — topping the county’s previous 10-year high, according to Stephen Tarditi, director of market intelligence at the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

He called the office market “a lagging economic indicator” when presenting the data last Tuesday (July 18) to the Board of Supervisors economic advisory committee.

Despite the county’s vacancy rate, Tarditi said the demand for office leasing is increasing.

“Last year, we had 6.6 million-square-feet of office space leased, so we’re 37% below our pre-pandemic average,” he said. “And comparing that to 2021, we were about 4.5 million square feet.”

Almost half of the county’s office inventory was built before 1990, and Tarditi said the county is seeing a bifurcation in its office market, where older buildings are not being leased at the same rate as newer buildings.

Almost 5.9 million square feet of office space is slated to be demolished or converted into another use, most of it built before 1990, according to the presentation.

“The class B, class C inventory — that’s not seeing your net new tenant demand. It’s your trophy office buildings. In fact, the trophy office vacancy rate for Fairfax County is right around 10%, which is very healthy,” Tarditi said.

According to the data, coworking space is another strong sector in the office market, with demand increasing among more small businesses.

“I think more and more building operators — if there is vacant space and newer buildings — they’re looking to incorporate coworking space and have them graduate in that space,” Tarditi said.

National economic indicators that could have a potential effect on the county’s office market include mass layoffs and interest rates. Although the county is seeing a high vacancy rate, Tarditi highlighted some statistics that could indicate growth in office demand in the future.

Fairfax County now has 42,000 employee establishments (companies with employees and payroll) — a record number for the county, according to Victor Hoskins, CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

“That shows that there would be future office demand as a new company is established,” Tarditi said.

Like many organizations, The Arc of Northern Virginia is rethinking its approach to office work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The local chapter of the national nonprofit, which provides services and advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will move its headquarters to the recently opened Venture X coworking space at 3060 Williams Drive in Merrifield.

The new address will be effective starting Aug. 7.

With the lease for its current base at 2755 Hartland Road set to expire after 10 years, The Arc says the new space in Venture X will be more flexible and cost-effective. Many of its 28 employees have adopted hybrid schedules, working partly at the office and partly at home or other remote locations.

“The pandemic-related shutdown, the option of web-based and technology driven programming, and the wide adoption of more flexible on-site work requirements made us look seriously at how much office space we really needed,” The Arc of Northern Virginia Executive Director Melissa Heifetz said. “Our new office not only reflects the societal changes in the workplace, I’m confident it will help us attract and retain a dedicated workforce.”

Heifetz added that the relocation won’t affect “the high quality of programming and services” that the nonprofit offers to over 39,000 individuals across Northern Virginia.

Founded in 1962, The Arc helps people with disabilities and their families navigate social services, serves as an advocate on local, state and federal issues that affect the disability community, and provides resources to both caregivers and clients seeking to live more independently.

The organization’s Northern Virginia chapter isn’t the only employer pursuing smaller or more flexible office space.

Fueled by the pandemic, the trend toward remote and hybrid work schedules among white-collar employees has upended the office market, leading to lower demand and increased vacancy rates nationwide.

Some commercial property owners have responded by adding more amenities, while many developers have sought to replace or swap office space with housing and other uses. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal last month to convert the former Inova headquarters in Merrifield — less than a mile away from The Arc’s new base.

A plan to reinvigorate a 15-acre site in Springfield that was the pinnacle of the local market four decades ago has been derailed.

At a July 11 meeting, the Fairfax County Planning Commission rejected a proposal seeking a special exception to redevelop Versar Center — a site with two office buildings that sits on a floodplain between the Virginia Railway Express and the I-95/I-495 interchange.

While the property owner said the proposal would not change the floodplain boundaries, commissioners criticized it for a lack of specificity on what is planned on the site.

The applicant hopes to either demolish the buildings or redevelop the site with other industrial uses. Proposed uses could vary from self-storage facilities to a financing institution to a recycling center.

“There’s no development plan here,” Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina said. “It’s all sort of speculation.

David Schneider, the applicant’s legal representative and an attorney with Holland & Knight, said that flexibility was necessary to move forward with the proposal. The plan pitches no specific uses and simply states the specific exception would allow the site to be redeveloped “per the underlying zoning designation.”

“There is no market for office on this site,” Schneider said.

He said the property owner has tried but failed to make the existing office buildings work, including with interior renovations and marketing campaigns. Both buildings are mostly vacant because the site is sandwiched between VRE railroads tracks and the highway interchange known as the Mixing Bowl.

But other commissioners like Mason District’s Daren Schumate said they sympathized with the applicant’s need for flexibility, given the challenging nature of the site.

Schumate said the “orphaned” site likely should have never been an office use, and the applicant’s proposal would yield a “net benefit.”

County staff have recommended approval of the project, noting that any by-right use would be further examined at the site plan stage.

“They would be held to a very high standard of scrutiny,” said Sharon Williams of the Department of Planning and Development.

Schneider said he acknowledged the proposal was a “request for flexibility.”

While new buildings continue to transform the Tysons skyline further east, the Spring Hill Metro station area has yet to see the same frenzy of development.

Developer American Real Estate Partners hopes to change that with City House, pitching the high-rise apartments to the Fairfax County Planning Commission last week as a way to revitalize its Highline at Greensboro District office complex at 8401 Greensboro Drive.

“As we all know, office is not feasible in many locations, and not in this location either,” Walsh Colucci land use lawyer Lynne Strobel told the commission on July 12, reporting double-digit vacancy rates at the development’s two existing office buildings. “…I appreciate that that is the state of the market right now, but we think this conversion might help revitalize this corner of Tysons.”

Recommending approval of the application, the commissioners agreed that housing seems like a more promising match for the 2.65-acre site than the 20-story office building anticipated by a development plan the county greenlit in 2013.

City House will feature up to 410 multifamily rental units and three publicly accessible parks:

• A 4,009-square-foot Highline Plaza outside its main entrance, with benches, landscaping and an art installation
• A 6,708-square-foot pocket park dubbed Highline Square with seating
• A 32,778-square foot urban park with recreational amenities on top of the existing, 1,500-space parking garage that City House will share with the offices

It’s just one piece of the 31.5-acre Spring Hill Station demonstration project, which was approved in 2011 and envisioned 7.5 million square feet of mixed-use, transit-oriented development north of the Spring Hill Road and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) intersection.

The Spring Hill project was supposed to be at the forefront of the county’s efforts to turn Tysons into a vibrant downtown, but construction in Tysons West as a whole has largely ground to a halt since the Adaire apartments opened in 2016.

Bounded by Spring Hill Road, Greensboro Drive and Broad Street, the Highline portion will have five buildings, including the two office towers and City House. A possible residential or hotel building and a residential building with retail are approved but unbuilt.

“When you come around from Route 7 onto Spring Hill Road and look at the site right now, I mean it’s eh,” Dranesville District Planning Commissioner John Ulfelder said. “It really does need something, and it needs something that ties it back to the rest of Tysons and looks like the new Tysons, the modern Tysons. I think this is a good step in that direction.”

While hopeful that the building will be “a catalyst for redevelopment,” Providence District Commissioner Phil Niedzielski-Eichner raised concerns about its accessibility to residents, workers and members of the surrounding community, stressing the need to make clear that the parks are there and open to the public. Read More

Inova Health System’s former administrative headquarters in Merrifield will soon be transformed into a combination of workforce housing and live/work units — a kind of development that’s still relatively novel for Fairfax County.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 8-0 to approve the project from developer Madison Highland after a public hearing on June 27. Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross and Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw recused themselves because they respectively serve on Inova’s board of trustees and quality and reliability committee.

The developer — a joint venture by Madison Marquette and Highland Square Holdings — now anticipates breaking ground on the office building conversions at 8110 Gatehouse Road and 2990 Telestar Court by the end of the first quarter of 2024, Highland Square Holdings CEO Robert Seldin told FFXnow by email.

“I think this definitely shows quite a bit of opportunity and repurposing as we look…to build additional affordable and workforce units and try to address an area that’s becoming much, much more urban, to have it be accessible and address the multimodal needs in that community,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said.

Vacant since last fall, the six-story Gatehouse building will be converted into up 240 live/work units that tenants can utilize as a residence, office or both. An existing five-story parking garage on the site will be left intact.

The four-story Telestar building will be turned into 82 workforce dwelling units (WDUs) for residents earning up to 60% of the area median income.

In its proposal, Madison Highland highlighted plans to provide sizable open spaces for both future residents and the general public, including:

• Game Table Community Park: a 20,300-square-foot publicly accessible park adjacent to Gatehouse Road with seating, walking paths, game tables, and a mist fountain
• Woof Park: a 13,600-square-foot publicly accessible park west of the Gatehouse building with seating, a gathering space, and a fenced dog park that will include waste stations and a drinking fountain
• Community Play Zone: a 20,800-square-foot park along Telestar Court frontage with open seating, walking paths, and four children’s play areas
• Resident-only common areas, including a courtyard, an “amenity zone” with grilling stations and table games, and a space on the garage’s top deck with pickleball courts, gardens and other amenities

To make room for the new open spaces and additional landscaping, the developer will eliminate “excess” parking spaces, but it will still meet the 768 spaces required by the county’s zoning ordinance, according to a staff report.

“I’m excited about turning some of the parking lot space that is currently impervious into some community use space, while knowing that there are large garages there that will be able to meet the majority, if not more than the majority of the needs for parking,” Palchik said.

No one at the public hearing voiced opposition to the development, but some area residents expressed concern about the potential impact on parking and traffic.

Insufficient parking is “the only issue that has come up over and over again” at board meetings for the High Pointe at Jefferson Park townhomes, according to resident and board member Ann Sweetser. Read More

The proposed repurposing of Inova Health System’s former corporate headquarters in Merrifield as live/work and workforce housing units got a hearty recommendation from the Fairfax County Planning Commission earlier this week.

The commission recommended on Wednesday (June 7) that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve the plan from Madison Highland, a developer focused on live/work projects that’s pursuing similar conversions at the Skyline Center in Bailey’s Crossroads.

“This is an art-of-the-possible application,” Providence District Commissioner Phil Niedzielski-Eichner said. “It started with a vision…but then, that interaction between the applicant and staff resulted in an outcome that is so strikingly beneficial to our county that, to me, it’s a remarkable achievement.”

Under the name Madison Investment Portfolio LLC, the developer is seeking to turn a vacant, 245,000-square-foot office building at 8110 Gatehouse Road into 240 live/work units, which are newly defined in the county’s zoning ordinance as areas designed to accommodate both a residence and a “flexible work space.”

The 89,000-square-foot office building at 2990 Telestar Road will be repurposed as 82 workforce dwelling units for residents earning up to 60% of the area median income.

Representing the applicant at Wednesday’s public hearing, McGuireWoods Managing Partner Greg Riegle pitched the new units and accompanying open space, sidewalks, and other amenities as a “significant” improvement over the existing offices, which have been empty since Inova finished moving out last fall.

“The site gets greener, more amenitized,” he said, “and something that was exclusively automobile-oriented becomes much more walkable…We take a significant step toward creating a centerpiece where people can gather and interact that’s never existed in this part of Merrifield.”

The development will feature three publicly accessible parks — a game table community park, a play zone and a “Woof Park” for dog walking — as well as three common areas for residents. Pickleball courts are also proposed on top of the Gatehouse building’s five-story parking garage.

Pedestrians will get 6-foot-wide sidewalks in front of both buildings, internal walkways for the new parks, a connection between the properties, and high-visibility crosswalks at all crossings, pending Virginia Department of Transportation approval.

Two area residents called for more roadway improvements to address safety concerns and vehicle speeds, particularly on Gatehouse Road.

“I see a lot more rush of people cutting off the corner coming up Lee Highway all the way to Gallows,” a resident of the High Point at Jefferson Park townhomes said. “Maybe at 3 o’clock after noon, there are 20 cars waiting for the red light to turn onto Gallows, so it’s already quite congested.”

The resident also said parking has been a persistent challenge for her neighborhood and the adjacent Yorktowne Square Condominiums, requesting that they be allowed to use the Gatehouse garage.

While Niedzielski-Eichner said parking access should be negotiated by the developer and homeowners separately from the rezoning application, Marc Dreyfuss with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation shared that Gatehouse Road is scheduled for a repaving this year that will create buffered bicycle lanes.

“Restriping the road through a road diet and adding the features that are proposed with this application should help slow the traffic,” Dreyfuss said, confirming that “we would not expect to see any significant increase” in traffic with the proposed development.

The application is set for a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors on June 27.

Though a proposal to expand its headquarters in McLean is still under review, Mars Inc. has apparently gotten a head start on scouting locations to temporarily host employees during construction.

The candy and pet food manufacturer has submitted a bid for construction work on the 10th floor of 1676 International Drive in Tysons, the Washington Business Journal reported yesterday.

The 13-story office building has 36,296 square feet of space available for leasing on its 10th floor, according to the property website. A contract hasn’t been finalized yet, so Mars was unable to confirm any plans beyond what the WBJ reported.

“Since 1984, our headquarters in McLean…has served Mars’ growing business,” the company said in a statement also shared with the WBJ. “It has been an important place for Mars Associates from around the world to connect with our company’s leadership, history and heritage. Given our growth, we’re exploring how we can evolve our office to meet the changing needs of our business and our Associates.”

Mars, whose brands include M&M’s and Iams pet food, submitted a rezoning application to Fairfax County on March 30, 2022, seeking to demolish a neighboring office building at 6867 Elm Street so it can add onto its headquarters (6869 Elm Street).

The expansion will almost double the facility’s square footage from 52,970 to approximately 119,671 and increase its height from 50 to 63 feet, or from two to three stories, according to a revised statement of justification dated March 7.

The company says the expansion will “update the existing interiors and façade…with world-class architecture that will provide a modern vibrant workplace and more natural light.”

Parking will be provided in a garage with up to three above-ground stories, as an existing lot will be replaced with new landscaping and seating. Proposed street improvements include the addition of a 12-foot-wide pedestrian and bicycle path along Old Dominion Drive, consolidation of curb cuts to create a single vehicle access point, and a bus stop relocation.

Mars has also proposed moving the existing utilities on Elm Street underground.

The application is currently scheduled to go to the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a public hearing on Oct. 4, followed by a hearing before the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 24.

An information technology services company is expanding its presence in Reston.

Dev Technology Group plans to invest $366,000 in its current offices at 11440 Commerce Park Drive, embarking on a 10,000-square-foot expansion that is expected to create 90 new jobs. The news was announced yesterday (Monday).

“As a federal contractor, Dev Technology has selected to continue its growth in Fairfax County due to the proximity of clients and access to highly skilled employees, including veterans,” Dev Technology CEO Kendall Holbrook said. “In addition, Northern Virginia is a diverse and inclusive community that allows us to attract and retain people of all backgrounds, which ultimately makes our company stronger and more resilient.”

The company was founded in 1998 to deliver IT services and solutions, including artificial intelligence, to further government missions. Its clients include the Department of Homeland Security, Army National Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) president and CEO Victor Hoskins congratulated the company on its expansion in the county.

“We applaud Dev Technology for their investment and plan of hiring 90 new information technology and software employees,” Hoskins said.

FCEDA worked with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) to secure the project for the county.

“Dev Technology Group is a Virginia success story that bolsters our booming IT industry while providing critical services for the government and 21st-century jobs for civilians and veterans,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said. “We are proud to see a longstanding corporate partner benefit from the Commonwealth’s diverse, world-class technology talent that catalyzes growth.”

📢 BIG NEWS: @devtechnology, an information technology services company, will expand in Fairfax County. The company is investing in 10k sq. ft of new office space to accommodate additional IT + software personnel. The project will create 90 new jobs.

🔗: https://t.co/OOqXyv7cW6 pic.twitter.com/nQnJpVfVwF

— Fairfax County EDA (@FairfaxEDA) May 8, 2023

Image via Google Maps