Akridge Signs Bain To Anchor Downtown Spec Office Project
Akridge has signed an anchor tenant for its second Downtown D.C. spec office project in as many months.
The developer closed a deal with consulting firm Bain & Co. to take the upper floors of its recently delivered office project at 1101 16th St. NW, Akridge Chairman Chip Akridge tells Bisnow.
Akridge could not disclose the exact size of the lease, but said Bain would be taking "several of the upper floors." He also said the developer is in talks with multiple tenants that could lease the remainder of the building's 102K SF of total office space.
The building's website now lists the eighth floor penthouse and floors five through seven as "leased," with floors one through four listed as available, after having every floor listed as available last month. The four leased floors total 47,600 SF.
Bain, currently located at 1717 K St. NW, first opened its D.C. office in 2012. The global consulting firm has over 60 offices worldwide, including 11 in the U.S.
The building, at 1101 16th St. NW, sits about three blocks from the Farragut North Metro station. Akridge replaced two aging, Brutalist-style buildings on the site with a single, trophy-class office building. Its amenities include a landscaped rooftop terrace, an indoor lounge and a fitness center.
The development team celebrated the completion of the building last month after breaking ground speculatively in September 2017. The project was built in partnership with Stars REI, a Chilean asset management firm with which Akridge is partnering on at least two additional projects. HOK Architects designed the building and EagleBank financed the construction.
The deal follows Akridge's February lease at a nearby office project with WeWork. The coworking giant leased the full building at 1701 Rhode Island Ave. NW, another speculative office project Akridge celebrated the delivery of last month.
Akridge said Bain was also interested in the 1701 Rhode Island project, but the developer had already been in talks with the coworking provider.
"They really liked 1701 as well, but of course we were in discussions with WeWork for a long time," Akridge said. "[Bain] wanted to go ahead and make a deal. They like the level of quality of 1701 and of 1101, and they like the smaller floor plates with lots of windows on four sides all the way around."
