Tishman Speyer to Build New CBS DC HQ

CBS News will have a new home in DC, courtesy of Tishman Speyer. One of the world's leading property owners has bought the current home at 2020 M St NW and the building next door at 2030, with plans to redevelop both into trophy properties. First, according to a source, Tishman will build a brand-new CBS HQ on the surface parking lot adjacent to the current building, expected to be completed by 2017. Then, Tishman will move the news bureau into the new digs and tear down 2020 and 2030 to build a new office building for multiple tenants, expected to deliver in 2019. “The demand in Washington, DC, for new Class-A trophy-level office space is strong and will become stronger over the next several years," Tishman regional managing director Paul De Martini says. Tishman bought CBS' building for $30.5M and 2030 M, a 160k SF office building, for $49M, according to property records

The deal had been in negotiations for almost 10 months after CBS News president David Rhodes sent a memo to his staff announcing the new HQ plans. In the memo, Rhodes said the Face the Nation staff will have a "state-of-the-art, fully digital facility." Keith Sellars, the president and CEO of the Washington D.C Economic Partnership, says he hopes the new media center positions the block as a creative hub in the future. "Projects like these help define certain submarkets," he told Bisnow, "We feel the project could help transform the block." Keith added WDCEP has been in discussions with CBS to help on the legislative side.