WASHINGTON, DC-After months of speculation and anticipation,Northrop Grumman decided to buy a building for its soon-to-beestablished headquarters operations here: 2980 Fairview Park Dr., a14-story building owned by ING Clarion Partners that is partiallyoccupied by Verizon. The purchase price hasn’t been recordedyet.

The decision to buy came as something of a surprise to themarket, which had been led to believe Northrop would lease thespace. "I think its decision represents its commitment to theregion," Cassidy Turley's Kevin Thorpe tells GlobeSt.com. Ingeneral, he says, buying versus leasing--even in the current helterskelter environment--comes down to an individual company’ssituation and balance sheet.

That said, Northrop Grumman follows a handful of deals wherecompanies opted to buy their building instead of leasing, JonesLang LaSalle’s, Scott Homa, tells GlobeSt.com. He points toKaiser Permanente acquisitions in Tysons Corner, VA andGaithersburg, MD; Inova in Falls Church, VA; and CoStar in theDistrict. Like Thorpe, Homa says the decision to buy versuslease must be based on a company’s individual financial factors--aswell as its tax situation--and, in the case of Northrop, thefinancial incentives the local jurisdiction isoffering. However, for companies with cash on their balancesheets, he adds, many are finding now to be a particularly goodtime to buy.