ASHBURN, VA-Ashburn may be located in Loudoun County, one of the fastest growing submarkets in the US, but that didn’t exempt it from the high vacancy rates and slow leasing activity that has been characteristic in much of the country for the past two years. However, landlords and brokers active in the market are starting to report slight signs of life here. “I think people are still very tentative about making statements or projections given what is happening domestically and globally, but we are seeing tenants start to expand incrementally,” Matt Holbrook, regional partner with St. John Properties, tells GlobeSt.com.

The company just inked some 16,000 square feet in leases at Ashburn Technology Park. One lease was an expansion by Brimtek, which nearly doubled its existing lease to approximately 11,000 square feet. Another was with the Dulles Association of Realtors, which signed a 6,000-square-foot lease. The companies are located in two separate single-story office/R&D/flex buildings within the 336,000-square-foot, six-building business community.

The two leases bring the buildings to 80% and 98% occupancy, respectively, Holbrook says. While 16,000 square feet may not sound like much, according to Holbrook, it is one of a growing number of signs that Ashburn is becoming more active. “We are starting to have more showings, as another example,” he says. “If a company wants to be near the population center here, it is finding less and less space available to it.”

A similar observation was voiced by Ari Firoozabadi of Marcus & Millichap in an earlier interview with GlobeSt.com late last year. Loudon County is showing improving fundamentals and has an extremely low unemployment rate, he said. “We are seeing considerable migration into Loudoun by the business community,” Firoozabadi said.