Alexandria has settled its lawsuits with the owner of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over the value of the property.
The property owner, LCOR Alexandria LLC, sued the city over its 2003 and ’04 real estate assessments, claiming the city overvalued the Patent and Trademark Office’s new 2.5 million-square-foot Alexandria headquarters. LCOR also appealed its 2007 assessment.
LCOR agreed to drop the lawsuits and the appeal, under the terms of the settlement signed Monday. LCOR also promised not to file any future lawsuits about the tax assessments between 2003 and 2007. In return, the city agreed to reduce the 2006 and ’07 property tax bills by some $422,000.
Under the terms of the settlement, the assessments for 2003, ’04 and ’05 remain the same. The city agrees to reduce the ’06 assessed property value from $1 billion to $965 million. The ’07 value will be reduced from $1.02 billion to $994 million.
“We’re very confident the city is making very sound assessments,” said Sharon Pandak, the attorney representing the city in the case, adding that the settlement “resolves the risks of litigation and substantial legal fees.”
LCOR did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment. A spokesman for the General Services Administration, the federal agency that leased the property from LCOR for the Patent and Trademark Office, declined to comment.
Alexandria assesses each property within its boundaries annually. Property taxes are based upon these assessments.
If the city overestimates the property’s value, the owner pays additional taxes.
The Patent and Trademark Office’s new headquarters anchors Alexandria’s struggling new Carlyle neighborhood.
It was expected to draw more businesses, but shops and restaurants have been slow to follow. As of April, some 82 percent of the space remained unoccupied.
LCOR completed the Patent and Trademark Office’s new headquarters in 2003 at an estimated $885 million, and the federal government signed a 20-year lease on the property.
