QUANTICO, VA-Defense contractor Patricio Enterprises will develop a new building at Quantico Corporate Center early next year. The company just acquired the land from the developer, Silver Cos., paying approximately $1.7 million for the 1.96 acres, David Newman, vice president of sales and leasing for the center, tells GlobeSt.com.

Construction will begin early next year on a 30,000-square foot, three-story office building with 50 of the company’s 180 employees slated to move there in late 2011. Traci Morris of Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. represented the buyer.

Quantico Corporate Center is an office park along 1-95 some 600 yards from the South Gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico. Demand for space by defense contractors is strong--as illustrated by Patricio’s project. Now, Silver Cos. is finalizing long pending plans to put up a third building and expects to begin construction in Q1 2011, Newman says.

Construction costs haven’t been finalized yet, Newman says, because a general contractor hasn’t been selected. The building will be a four-story, 140,000-square-foot office that would be leased out. “There a number of tenants that we are working with now on preliminary commitments for the space,” he adds.