ARLINGTON, VA-The economics of master-planned communities in which the federal government is a target client are back in play. So say Thomas McCarthy and James Wright, principals in the Washington, DC office of PageSoutherlandPage, an architectural and engineering design practices firm that is working on one at the moment.

"I would say there are five or six fairly significant projects in the early formulation stage in this area," McCarthy tells GlobeSt.com. In these cases, he says, the developers are already putting integrated teams together, which is a departure from the usual approach. "Now sitting at table is the architect and contractor."

These are not build-to-suit contracts, he adds, but the federal government is the end client in mind. They range from $50 million to $200 million in development costs, not counting the value of land.  PageSoutherlandPage is working on one of these projects, McCarthy and Wright say, though they decline to provide details about it. "There is a strong possibility that at least some of these will come to light within the next year," Wright tells GlobeSt.com.

There are other areas of growth as well in the Washington DC area, at least for the firm. They point to a current client, Lane Development, which is expanding its mixed-use community at Eisenhower Gateway in Alexandria, VA.