"It gives us a demographic to plan around--a pretty upscaledemographic," says St. John Properties' Dennis Castleman, vicepresident of marketing.

Knowing that a retirement community will be built on the landmeans St. John Properties can develop a better mix of office andretail product in the area, he adds, especially as the company'snearby tech park starts to deliver its products. Two officebuildings now under construction at Ashburn Technology Park, a660,000-sf business community located at the intersection of DullesGreenway and Waxpool Road near Dulles International Airport, areexpected to be complete by Q1 2007. Ashburn Crossing is locatednear the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Sully Road.

Catonsville, MD-based Erickson Retirement Communities manages 18campuses in nine states and is currently developing new campuses inthe Denver and Kansas City areas. A spokesperson for EricksonRetirement Communities notes that there are 140,000 people thatfall within Erickson Retirement Communities' demographics. "We wantto work with local officials and the community to design a campusthat complements the existing model of our successful GreenspringVillage campus in Springfield, Virginia, which has set statewideoccupancy records," the spokesperson says in a statement.