Technology parks close to government agencies and affiliated with universities are hot.
After temporarily cooling off after the Internet bubble burst, space in such parks is leasing as fast as it can be built.
Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties is one company cashing in on this trend.
The company announced Friday that it signed a long-term lease with CH2M HILL at the Washington Technology Park II, known as WTP II. The technology park is located in the Westfields Corporate Center at 15010 Conference Center Drive in Chantilly, Va.
The real estate investment trust, which is the largest developer and owner in the Westfields Corporate Center, is leasing the global engineering and construction services firm 77,651 square feet on the second and third floors of the office building.
WTP II is under construction and has a planned occupancy date of fourth quarter 2006. When complete, the facility will total 234,072 square feet.
“We are pleased to announce this first lease at WTP II with CH2M HILL and are very excited about other leasing activity for the balance of the office building,” said Randall M. Griffin, Corporate Office Properties president and CEO.
“We are looking forward to adding WTP II to our Northern Virginia portfolio.”
It was the second major announcement Corporate Office Properties made last week. On April 24, the real estate investment trust announced it was constructing two new office buildings at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County?s on-campus research and technology park, which is known as bwtech@UMBC.
The first is a four-story, 110,000-square-foot building, which will be completed in mid-2007. The company will also build a second 78,000-square-foot facility that year.
Such technology parks are becoming more prevalent as tech and biotech companies seek locations close to U.S. government agencies and educational institutions.
The new space creates opportunities for students and spurs the kind of economic development jurisdictions fight over.
When bwtech@UMBC opened its doors in 1989 on 41 acres, it only leased about 12,000 square feet to high-tech firms. Today, its leases 280,000 square feet to about 40 companies and will eventually bring 500 high-paying jobs to the area.
Corporate Office Properties Trust
» 8815 Centre Park Drive
Suite 400
Columbia, MD 21045
» www.copt.com
» Full-time employees: 257
Source: Yahoo Finance
