A developer betting that a new office-heavy mixed-use development near Washington, D.C., can lure tenants even in a challenging market has landed a deal for a major headquarters.
Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton plans to relocate to a pair of office buildings at Comstock Holding Cos.' Reston Station in Reston, Virginia, taking more than 310,000 square feet at the new development, Booz Allen and Comstock said in separate releases Monday.
The deal is the largest private-sector office lease signed in the Washington area this year, according to CoStar data, with Booz Allen slated to move to its new corporate offices in fall 2027.
With the deal, the company becomes the latest corporation to swap an aging office for upgraded space to better recruit and retain talent, while also streamlining operating costs with more efficient space that requires less square footage.
At Reston Station, Comstock is building a minicity with offices, residences, hotel rooms, stores and other uses near a transit station to tap into the demand.
"Our new headquarters will provide our people, partners, and customers with upgraded resources to build the technologies that support national missions while rightsizing our facilities footprint," Booz Allen Chief Operating Officer Kristine Martin Anderson said in a statement.
The firm's current headquarters at 8283 Greensboro Drive in Tysons, about 8 miles away from Reston Station, is expected to be "decommissioned" in 2028, Booz Allen said in its release. The property's owner, Meridian Group, declined to comment via email to CoStar News on its future plans for the property.
Minicity emerges in Reston
Booz Allen intends to take over the entire 10-story building at 1870 Reston Row Plaza and multiple floors in the adjacent 13-story building at 1800 Reston Row Plaza.
Interior build-out is scheduled to begin next summer. The leases also include a to-be-built enclosed bridge that would connect the seventh floors of the properties, as well as expansion options.
"Booz Allen's move to Reston underscores the demand for high-quality space in mixed-use environments, even beyond the District. These large relocations signal confidence in the long-term outlook for the DC office market," said Melina Duggal, CoStar's senior director of market analytics for the Washington area.
As for Booz Allen, its future home is in The Row, the second of five planned phases of the Reston Station development that Comstock is building.
Comstock had revealed in its third-quarter earnings report last week that the deal was signed, but had not publicly named the tenant until now.
For the record
HKS Architects designed the buildings, and Michael Graves Architecture designed the interior common spaces.