U.S. Agencies, Contractors Lead Space Race

[Rose Siding]

At four of the region's largest real estate brokerages, more than half the tenants looking for large chunks of space are government agencies or their contractors, and brokers said the increased competition for space among companies in the booming defense and security industries could mean higher rents.

Among the 10 largest tenants looking for space over 100,000 square feet:

• Government agencies like the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency, which is seeking 1 million square feet in Northern Virginia to consolidate 2,500 workers now spread over four offices in the region. The Coast Guard is also looking for half a million square feet and the Department of Defense for 471,000 square feet in Northern Virginia; and the Justice Department is searching for roughly half a million square feet in the District.....
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With the limited options for space in the District, rents are getting into the $60 a square foot range -- far more than the $40 landlords were getting in the mid-1990s. In Northern Virginia, rates have jumped to $25 per square foot from $17 a decade ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17042-2004Sep12_2.html