USDA Takes 330,000 SF in SW Washington, DC

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will occupy 330,000 square feet at Patriots Plaza III, a new office property at 355 E St. SW in Washington, DC. The U.S. General Services Administration inked the long-term deal on behalf of the USDA, which is consolidating five locations in the District and northern Virginia. The federal agency will occupy 87 percent of the building, including space on 11 of its 12 floors, starting next month.

Multi-Employer Property Trust owns Patriots Plaza III, a 380,087-square-foot, Class A building that delivered in September as part of Patriots Plaza, a 1 million-square-foot, three-phase office development in the heart of the Southwest submarket. It is walking distance from the National Mall and shares an outdoor plaza with Patriots Plaza I and II. Trammell Crow Co. developed and currently leases the project, while CBRE manages it. Patriots Plaza III is pre-certified LEED® Silver.

“Patriots Plaza is the first market-driven urban office complex that was designed specifically to meet post-Oklahoma City and 9-11 security standards and baseline fundamentals,” said Tom Finan, managing director with TCC who oversees the development and leasing for the entire Patriots Plaza project.

TCC said the development's critical security features exceed federal standards and include minimum 30-foot stand-off distances, progressive collapse avoidance, hardened structure and façade, blast resistant glass and expendable entry ways, plus separate vertical transport from the garage to security check point and the latest security equipment and protocols.

MEPT, a $4.3 billion real estate equity fund owned by 331 pension plans, invested more than $272 million in the project. Patriots Plaza I is a four-year-old, 280,001-square-foot building at 395 E St. SW and is currently 100 percent leased to five federal agencies including FEMA, the FBI and the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. Patriots II is 322,729 square feet, delivered last month, awaiting LEED Silver certification and is currently unoccupied.

Bill Craig and Chad Habeeb of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Public Institutions Group represented the GSA.