Four major companies will relocate from D.C. to Arlington by January, bringing about 4,000 jobs with them.
In late October, government consulting group DeticaDFI moved to Ballston. This month, trade publisher BNA headed to Crystal City.
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In January, Corporate Executive Board will come to Rosslyn, and energy company GridPoint Inc. will begin its move to the county.
The influx of jobs is the largest Arlington has seen in the past five or so years, according to Karen Vasquez, spokeswoman for Arlington Economic Development.
“We’re really excited not only about the fact we’re getting new jobs, but the kind of jobs they are,” Vasquez said. Instead of just federal contractors, the city is now attracting media and consulting firms, she said.
Corporate Executive Board, a publicly held company that helps businesses and nonprofits with strategy, will bring about 2,500 jobs to the county. BNA employs about 1,000 people, and GridPoint and DeticaDFI each has about 250 workers.
BNA, GridPoint and CEB all received funding through the state Governor’s Opportunity Fund; BNA and CEB got $1 million, and GridPoint received $500,000.
“My gut is that the moves are price-driven,” said Lock Swift, principal for D.C.-based development firm H Street Ventures. “Part of it is that real estate taxes are lower, but the land value is also less expensive.”
Office rent in Arlington tends to average about $10 less per square foot than in Washington, according to Demetri Koutrouvelis, managing director for D.C. real estate firm Studley, which brokered the GridPoint deal.
With vacancyrates in the District at 7.23 percent and tens of thousands of new jobs generated annually, the city should be able to handle the recent exodus, experts said.
“This is one of the healthiest markets in the whole country,” Swift said.
