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Top business stories of 2017

Jeff Clabaugh | jclabaugh@wtop.com

December 29, 2017, 4:09 AM

WASHINGTON — Real estate developments and corporate mergers were among the events that impacted the D.C. business community in 2017.

Here are 10 of the area’s more-notable business stories.

Wegmans joins Fannie Mae headquarters development The popular grocery store chain signed on as anchor tenant in May for the massive redevelopment of Fannie Mae’s current Wisconsin Avenue campus in Northwest D.C. District-based Roadside Development led the $89-million acquisition of Fannie Mae’s 10-acre campus, and plans include a mixed-use development that will incorporate Fannie Mae’s 60-year-old headquarters building. The Wegmans will probably open sometime in 2022. (Courtesy Roadside Development)
Courtesy Roadside Development
The 35-story officer tower at 1812 N. Moore St. in Rossyln sits largely empty in this handout photo from Monday Properties. Nestle USA is slated to lease almost half the building and will move its corporate headquarters to Arlington County from California, the property company announced on Wednesday. (Courtesy Monday Properties)
Nestle moves to Rosslyn Nestle USA agreed in February to relocate its North American headquarters — and more than 700 jobs — to 1812 N. Moore St. in Rosslyn. The food giant, whose previous North American headquarters was in Glendale, California, will invest $40 million in its new Arlington headquarters as part of the move.   (Courtesy Monday Properties)
Courtesy Monday Properties
JBG Cos. merges with Vornado Realty’s Charles E. Smith In July, Chevy Chase-based JBG Cos. completed its merger with Vornado Realty’s Charles E. Smith commercial real estate business, creating JBG Smith Properties. Now one of the largest commercial landlords in the Washington region, it has a market capitalization of $3.5 billion. JBG Smith is also building a new headquarters building in downtown Bethesda. (Courtesy JBG Smith Properties)
Courtesy JBG Smith Properties
The Wharf opens on the Southwest Waterfront Three years after construction began, the joint venture development team Hoffman-Madison opened its ambitious Southwest Waterfront mixed-use project, The Wharf, in October. The $2.5 billion project is the District’s largest new development and encompasses a 24-acre, mile-long stretch of the Southwest Waterfront. (WTOP/Jack Pointer)
WTOP/Jack Pointer
MGM National Harbor marks anniversary In December, the $1.4-billion MGM National Harbor casino and resort marked its anniversary, touting the 3,700 jobs it has created and its status as Prince George’s County’s leading tax provider. The county has reaped more than $32 million in revenue from the casino. And MGM National Harbor, whose hotel reached capacity 242 nights in its first 12 months, now generates roughly 40 percent of the gaming revenue from Maryland’s six casinos.   (Courtesy MGM National Harbor)
Courtesy MGM National Harbor
Marriott picks new corporate headquarters in Bethesda Marriott International Inc. made its plans to move to a new headquarters in downtown Bethesda official in July. The $600-million campus will include a 22-story office building and a Marriott-branded hotel. Marriott will make the move sometime in 2022. (Courtesy Marriott International Inc.)
Courtesy Marriott International Inc.
Prince George’s largest redevelopment project breaks ground Prince George’s County officials broke ground in November on Town Square at Suitland Federal Center, a 1-million-square-foot mixed-use development that is the largest redevelopment project in county history. The development will have an economic impact of more than $400 million in construction costs and will create 1,200 construction jobs. (Courtesy Prince George’s County)
Courtesy Prince George’s County
Long & Foster sold to Warren Buffett company Chantilly, Virginia-based Long & Foster Companies Inc., one of the largest residential real estate companies in the country, was acquired in September by HomeServices of America Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, for an undisclosed price. Long & Foster, with $29 billion in sales volume last year, has 11,000 real estate agents. It continues to be run by its existing management team, and its headquarters are still in Chantilly. (Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Washington Gas agrees to be acquired for $6.4 billion Canadian energy company AltaGas Ltd. agreed in January to acquire Washington Gas parent company WGL Holdings in a deal worth $6.4 billion. If the acquisition is approved by regulators, WGL would continue to operate as a stand-alone utility headquartered in D.C. AltaGas would also move the headquarters of its U.S. power business to D.C. WGL has 1,500 employees in Washington. (WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WTOP/Tiffany Arnold
In this Dec. 17, 2015 file photo, workers look over documents in the assembly building for Antares rockets during a tour of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Orbital ATK turned to the heavens for naming its Antares rocket after the superbright star. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Northrop Grumman reaches deal to buy Orbital ATK A merger deal that will create one of the largest defense contractors in the D.C. area was announced in September, when Northrop Grumman agreed to acquire Orbital ATK, a Dulles, Virginia-based satellite and rocket maker. The $9.2 billion merger, expected to close in the first half of 2018, will create a company with 80,000 employees worldwide. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
AP Photo/Steve Helber, File
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The 35-story officer tower at 1812 N. Moore St. in Rossyln sits largely empty in this handout photo from Monday Properties. Nestle USA is slated to lease almost half the building and will move its corporate headquarters to Arlington County from California, the property company announced on Wednesday. (Courtesy Monday Properties)
In this Dec. 17, 2015 file photo, workers look over documents in the assembly building for Antares rockets during a tour of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Orbital ATK turned to the heavens for naming its Antares rocket after the superbright star. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

jclabaugh@wtop.com

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