ARLINGTON, VA–Software company OpenWater has taken 5,000-square feet on the 2nd floor of 4401 N Fairfax Dr. Clearly the lease is not on par with, to name one example, the 244,000 square feet that Nestle took in Rosslyn last year. But the tiny lease is notable for what it represents: Ballston's vacancy rate is on the rise due to a few relocations out of the submarket. With OpenWater we have a company relocating from the District, where it has been for eight years, into Ballston. With the move the company has expanded its footprint by 120%.
In its Q4 2017 report on Northern Virginia, Cushman & Wakefield wrote that:
Ballston experienced a large increase in vacancy, due to the National Science Foundation vacating its space at 4201 Wilson Blvd. and 4142 Wilson Blvd. Future vacancy in Ballston will be further impacted as AvalonBay Communities pre-leased 73,000 square feet of space at 4040 Wilson, relocating its headquarters from 671 North Glebe Rd. The new headquarters for AvalonBay will deliver in 2020.
On the positive side, the Office of Naval Research renewed its lease for 315,000 square feet in Ballston in the fourth quarter.
And overall it should be noted that Northern Virginia in general had a banner year in 2017, with year-to-date overall net absorption closing the fourth quarter of 2017 at a positive 1.2 million square feet — a dramatic increase of 721.1% from the fourth quarter of 2016, according to C&W.
OpenWater's move to Ballston is also a nod to the submarket's efforts to cultivate its own tech community, with the company planning to use its new space for technology forums and networking events. “OpenWater is a company that thrives on constant and consistent innovation, making them a perfect fit for the robust and fast-growing tech scene in Ballston,” said Tina Leone, CEO of the Ballston Business Improvement District, in a prepared statement.
Anna Shaffer with Savills Studley represented OpenWater in this transaction.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
