WASHINGTON — The Washington Business Journal has moved to a new Rosslyn headquarters after nearly 20 years at its previous location, and like many companies contributing to the region’s stubborn office vacancy rate, it has downsized.
The publication’s new headquarters is at 1100 Wilson Blvd., and its lease is for 8,500 square feet, down from the 11,500 square feet it had at 1555 Wilson Blvd.
“Like many companies across greater Washington, including the government, we are downsizing. It is a term known in real estate as densification, and it’s one of the reasons why the region’s office market is suffering,” editor-in-chief Douglas Fruehling said.
“But most workplaces nowadays find they can be just as efficient in less space as employees find new ways and new places to work,” he said.
The new space also follows other evolutions in how office space works: Cubes have shorter dividers to improve communication; office layouts are more collaborative; there are more open meeting places where employees can gather away from their desks.
Bowie Gridley was the architect.
The move “down the hill” from its previous Rosslyn home keeps the Business Journal in the same neighborhood it has called home for two decades.
“We worked hard to stay in Rosslyn, because it’s really the perfect location for a company that covers all of Greater Washington,” Fruehling said.
The move wasn’t entirely voluntary. Arlington County has approved development plans for the section of Wilson Boulevard that includes the Journal’s old building, a school, a park and a fire station.
Known as the Western Rosslyn Area Plan, it includes two residential high rise buildings, a new school and park, and new retail development.
Demolition and construction on the projects is expected to start later this year.
