WASHINGTON, DC-Akridge has secured a five-year lease with the Department of Homeland Security for 29,680 square feet at 999 N. Capitol St., NE, in the Union Square office complex. Akridge manages the roughly 300,000-square foot property, which is owned by CIM Group, along with its sister building 899 N. Capitol St. Next up, Akridge broker Ben Meisel tells GlobeSt.com, the company hopes to secure a private-sector company lease.

Typically buildings will focus on either government tenants or private-sector tenants on the theory that a building’s design and amenities can appeal to one or the other, but not both. However Akridge led a $6 million or so renovation of the building with an eye to creating an interior space that would attract both.

Namely the security screening necessary for all government agency lobbies has been tucked away in a vestibule of frosted glass. “The building still offers the same security but people don’t feel like they are walking into a security zone, which is something that turns off the private sector,” Meisel says.

Conversely, the building also includes a fitness center, which is not always found in buildings aimed at government tenants. In part for these reasons, Meisel says, Akridge and CIM has been garnering interest in the building from both camps. “We have a few deals pending and I am confident something is going to close” in the private sector, he says.

The sister building is now poised to undergo a similar renovation, one that will deliver in Q2 2012. Neither building is fully leased--there is about 100,000-square feet available in 999 N. Capitol and 117,000-square feet available in 899 N. Capitol.

In this lease DHS is consolidating its Administrative Services Group from multiple locations. It is taking space on the second floor, joining other government tenants including the Internal Revenue Service, the DC Department of Health, and the Office of Personnel Management.