A new report by Cassidy Turley says the delays in next year’s military moves will save Arlington County from an overwhelming office space surplus next year.
“Although some BRAC-related moves are on track to meet the September 2011 deadline, some relocations have been delayed,” the report said. “In Arlington County alone, 900,000 square feet of office leases have been extended through 2012; additional leases totaling 2.3 million square feet have been extended through 2013 or later.”
That’s good news for county development officials who were staring down a potentially huge hole to fill after defense agencies were scheduled to move out in 2011.
In total, more than 5.4 million square feet of office leases in 47 buildings are projected to be affected in Arlington as part of the moves under the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. This accounts for about 17 percent of total office inventory in Arlington
County.
The county does stand to gain overall, however. Even with a large amount of government-related office space vacated, total employment is projected to grow in both Crystal City and Pentagon City by almost 50 percent over the next 15 years, the report said.
