The North Bethesda, MD-based firm will develop an 18-story472,000-sf office tower at 1775 Tysons Blvd. in the CorporateOffice Centre at Tysons II. Construction will begin in the summerof 2007 and the building will be delivered two years later. It willbe the fifth office building at the five-million-sf, mixed-usecomplex.

Mark D. Lerner, a principal of Lerner Enterprises, notes thatmarket demand is so strong for space in the area that Tysons II,with more than 1.4 million sf, has less than a 1% vacancy rate. Inpart that is due to companies such as Bantu, a provider ofenterprise instant messaging, that are moving to Tysons,specifically to be closer to its key customers and partners.

Calling Tysons the heart of the government IT and technology,Larry Schlang, CEO of Bantu tells GlobeSt.com that being in Tysonsinstead of Washington, DC, will also be a plus in its recruitingdrive. "There is a definite convenience factor to being here amongthe people we want to hire." The company's new headquarters, at8110 Gatehouse Rd., is a class A building subleased from the majortenant under a two-year lease with an option to expand.