A major real estate company has decided to move its Bethesda-based headquarters to the District, after being wooed for months with tax-break incentives by the Fenty administration. CoStar Group Inc., which has been called the “Bloomberg of real estate,” purchased a 169,429-square-foot office building at 1331 L St. NW, after the D.C. Council offered $6.1 million in property tax abatements to the company over the next 10 years. Council Chairman Vincent Gray sponsored the tax abatement legislation, and he “hopes that the deal will translate into jobs for D.C. residents,” his spokeswoman told The Examiner on Monday. After the move, the company expects to save $1 million per year — including the tax breaks. Those are contingent on CoStar hiring at least 100 District residents. “We appreciate the leadership and support shown by Mayor [Adrian] Fenty and the D.C. Council members who supported the bill, and for their continued efforts to bring more jobs and opportunities to District residents,” CoStar Chief Executive Officer Andrew Florence said in a news release. CoStar’s expects to transition to its new D.C. headquarters before its Bethesda building lease expires on Oct. 15. The deal between the city and CoStar reportedly was hatched while Fenty and Florence were seated next to each other on a flight back from a convention in Las Vegas. The CoStar CEO cited excessive real estate taxes in D.C. as a reason why he wouldn’t move the company from Maryland. Fenty offered to try to solve the problem. The mayor will be holding a news conference on the move at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
