New Kids On The Block: Tenants In Bethesda

With a slew of new Class-A office space, downtown Bethesda is attracting a host of corporate tenants. 

Many of these tenants have already made their offices nearby. WTTG and WDCA, Fox’s affiliate stations in the D.C. area, have signed a 57K SF lease at Carr Properties’ Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin Ave. The affiliates, branded as Fox 5 and Fox 5 Plus, will leave their longtime headquarters in Tenleytown in 2021. 

With the stations moving out of the space in Tenleytown, Donohoe development plans to convert their old headquarters into a larger mixed-use development, with six floors of residential atop a full-service restaurant. 

Bethesda is also attracting new tenants from the heart of the District. French nuclear power company Orano has signed a 21K SF lease at JBG Smith’s 4747 Bethesda Ave. project, where JBG Smith said it would soon be moving its own offices. Orano currently operates its U.S. headquarters out of 1155 F St. NW in the heart of Washington’s business district.

Host Hotels & Resorts and Booz Allen Hamilton signed on to JBG’s project in December for 55K SF and 65K SF, respectively.

Thanks to a corporate community that tends to cycle every few years with incoming and outgoing administrations, the Washington area has become a leader in coworking, and Bethesda is no exception. Launch Workplaces, a Maryland-based coworking company, recently took over its second space in Bethesda, a 7K SF space at 6900 Wisconsin Ave. The company already operates a 14K SF space at 4701 Sangamore Road. 

Launch doesn't sign leases with its host buildings, but rather reaches deals through management agreements. The company feels that it has a greater stake in the building, and acts as an amenity to all the building’s occupants, while the landlord gets to realize the upside of the space's success.