Clark Building In Bethesda Preparing To Lose Clark Construction As Anchor Tenant
The prominent Clark Building in Downtown Bethesda could soon lose its namesake tenant.
Clark Construction's headquarters space in the building is being marketed for lease by the building's owner, Stonebridge, and the landlord Friday announced a $24M renovation and rebranding effort for the building.
Transwestern Executive Managing Director Phil McCarthy, whose team is leasing the building on behalf of Stonebridge, told Bisnow that Clark Construction's lease expires within the next 10 months. He said the team doesn't know for certain whether Clark will renew the lease or vacate the building, but it is marketing the space to prepare for a potential departure.
"We're operating under the assumption they're moving out," McCarthy said.
He is working with Transwestern's Keith Foery, Mark Boyce and Karla Rivera to lease the space.
Transwestern is marketing a 120K SF anchor opportunity that comes with signage atop the 16-story building. The building at 7500 Old Georgetown Road, next to the Bethesda Metro station, has long had Clark Construction's name atop the tower.
Clark Construction is the D.C.-area's largest general contractor and the region's fourth-largest private company with $5.79B in revenue last year, according to the Washington Business Journal. It has 2,400 employees in the region, including 400 at the Bethesda headquarters.
Stonebridge acquired the 340K SF building in 2019 in partnership with Rockwood Capital. It didn't disclose the sale price at the time, but property records show it was $133.8M. Clark Construction has occupied around one-third of the building, and its other full-floor tenants include Clark Enterprises, which is a separate entity from Clark Construction, plus Morgan Stanley and Proquest.
Stonebridge Director of Investments Marvin Poole told Bisnow that, in addition to the contiguous, 120K SF space, the building also has the 13th floor available and some space on the sixth floor. He said it is marketing the larger space for a single anchor tenant, but it would also be open to leasing it to a series of smaller users.
"A different path we could see going down is groups that would come in and take 20K SF or 40K SF at a time," Poole said. "We’ve also been very encouraged to see a number of tenants like that recently entering the market looking for space. It wouldn’t surprise us if it went one way or the other. We're bullish on either outcome and our prospects to backfill the space."
The building owner is working with Fox Architects to design the renovation of the property. The $24M renovation effort is planned to replace the building's facade, create a new outdoor plaza and expand the lobby. It is also turning the 16th floor into an amenity suite, including a new 5,200 SF fitness center with locker rooms and yoga studios, and a 3,200 SF conference center.
