WASHINGTON — Arlington-based AvalonBay Communities Inc., one of the largest owners of apartment communities in the nation, has signed a lease for its new headquarters at 4040 Wilson Blvd.
The 22-story mixed-use building breaks ground in 2018. The structure is the final phase of Liberty Center developers the Shooshan Company and Brandywine Realty Trust.
Existing tenants at the Liberty Center, a multi-building development, include three restaurants from celebrity chef Mike Isabella — Kapnos Taverna, Pepita and Yona — plus Sweetgreen, Taylor Gourmet, Rustico Restaurant and Bar, Buzz Bakery and Bruegger’s Bagels.
Located across the street from Forest City’s redevelopment of the Ballston Mall, 4040 Wilson Blvd. will be Ballston’s tallest building.
AvalonBay Communities has preleased three-and-a-half floors, totaling 73,000-square-feet. Its lease, along with other leases signed, brings the commercial component of the building to 50 percent preleased.
AvalonBay’s current headquarters is located just blocks away at 671 N. Glebe Road.
JLL is handling leasing activity for the development.
Other leases signed at 4040 Wilson include VIDA Fitness, which is opening its first location outside of the District.
The building was originally planned as an office-only high rise. The Shooshan Company and Brandywine Realty have since opted to develop the building as half office and half residential, with more retail than originally planned.
“We did so in an effort to adjust to the recent market trends which consisted of more prospective tenants in the 75,000-square-foot range, and more retail demand along Wilson Boulevard,” said Kevin Shooshan, leasing director for the Shooshan company.
“Just about a year after county approval, we are honored to have executed a prelease with a company as prestigious as AvalonBay,” he said.
“Avalon Bay’s decision to relocate its headquarters to what will be (the D.C. area’s) first vertical mixed-use development is a testament not only to the resurgent Ballston submarket, but to how forward-thinking companies are embracing community and innovative, smart and sustainable workplace design,” said Jerry Sweeney, President and CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust.
The building still has about 117,000-square-feet of office space available.
Clark Construction expects to complete the building in the second quarter of 2020.
