The building boom at Carlyle got a little a bit hotter last week.
As temperatures raced into the high 90’s, a building crew from Turner Construction was breaking ground on a two building complex which will total 128,000 square feet of new office and retail space near the Patent & Trademark Office.
Carlyle, PA.- based LCOR Inc., the real estate development and investment company, secured a $42.8 million construction loan for the two new Class-A office buildings, expected to open in October, 2008. The four-story buildings will be located at 1900 and 2050 Ballenger Avenue.
Combined, the two brick buildings will boast 91,000 square feet of office space, 37,000 square feet of retail space and underground parking, complemented by pocket parks alongside both buildings.
The site is adjacent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters campus, and across from a new Westin hotel due to open later this year. Additionally, the two corner buildings will be a short walk from both the King Street and Eisenhower Avenue Metrorail subway stations and directly accessible to the Beltway.
The Carlyle submarket of Alexandria has an office vacancy rate of less than one percent, which makes this development opportunity all the more attractive both short and long-term, said R. William Hard, the executive vice president of LCOR. We expect space in these buildings to be highly appealing to firms doing business with the Trademark Office or that want a close-in Northern Virginia/D.C. location.
LCORs project team includes its general contractor Turner Construction and architect Still & Svitchan Associates of Washington. Transwestern Retail is providing retail brokerage services, with McShea & Company of Reston serving as office broker. LCOR will own and manage the buildings upon their completion. The construction loan was provided by Bank of America. The total development cost is $58 million.
Based in Berwyn, Pa., LCOR is a national real estate development and investment company. The firms portfolio includes $8 billion of properties completed, under construction or in pre-development.
LCOR has a 35-year presence in the Washington area. The company, which specializes in mixed-use, multifamily and office properties, developed and manages the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters campus in Alexandria.
