Under the contract, Highwoods will develop a two-story class Aoffice building on land already owned by the company. Constructionwill begin in the third quarter and is expected to be completed inthe second quarter of 2008, at which time the FAA will takeoccupancy.

Tradeport is located on International Parkway, near theHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Interstate 75.Highwoods owns 622,000 sf in Tradeport, including three office andfive industrial buildings. Highwoods vice president of the Atlantadivision Jim Bacchetta tells GlobeSt.com that the FAA selected thelocation because of its close proximity to the airport. "A firstresponder group that responds to incidents at the airport will belocated in the building so they needed quick access to theairport," he says.

The deal marks Highwoods' continued relationship with thefederal government. In the past five years, the company has beenawarded $120 million of development by various agencies, all ofwhich were 100% preleased. Among projects are a 138,000-sf officefor the FBI in Tampa, FL, two office buildings totaling 224,000 sffor the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and a 354,000-sfoffice and storage facility for the National Archives and RecordsAdministration, also in Atlanta.