Cleared For Takeoff: National Landing Center’s Transformation Into A Class-A Space In A Prime D.C.-Area Location

Class-A office buildings continue to outperform their pre-pandemic occupancy levels in many markets, and recent studies project the flight-to-quality trend among top-tier office tenants is likely to continue, particularly in the Washington, D.C., area.

If any of those “flights” happen to land at Reagan National Airport, taxiing passengers may notice the prominent National Landing Center development in Virginia. The two towers at 2733 and 2777 Crystal Drive are being fully renovated and amenitized to provide a market-leading experience for occupants. Approximately 400K SF is available throughout the NLC project, ranging from high-end spec suites to a full building with multiple contiguous floors.

JLL Senior Managing Director David Goldstein, a member of the NLC leasing team, said NLC’s multimillion-dollar upgrades put it in a prime position to meet rising tenant expectations. Even prior to the pandemic, office tenants prioritized enhanced building amenities such as tenant lounges and fitness facilities to attract top-flight employees. 

“That trend has only accelerated since Covid, which has created profound challenges to companies looking to entice employees back to the office,” Goldstein said. “NLC is designed to provide best-in-class amenities to meet this demand.” 

Owner Affinius Capital has invested millions to make NLC a place that is “hard for tenants to want to leave,” JLL Vice President John Dragelin said.

Highlights of the buildings’ new hospitality-focused amenities include the rooftop Altitude lounge and conference center and an open-air, fourth-floor terrace with WiFi, ample seating and fire pits, making it ideal for social, business and event uses, he said.

Other fresh amenities include a nearly 6,800 SF yoga studio and fitness center and dedicated on-site concierge service. NLC also boasts ample parking with high clearance heights and proximity to four neighboring hotels, he said. A café and retail space are planned for the first floor of 2777 Crystal Drive.

“The days of just having nice lobbies and a gym have been gone for some time,” Dragelin said. “Today’s office amenities need to provide an experience that employees would find at the latest hotel or at the new apartment building they just moved into. That’s exactly what we’re doing here.”

Dragelin described an environment at NLC that would allow employees to work where they would be most productive throughout the day. After starting the morning at their desk, for instance, an employee could grab coffee and participate in virtual or in-person meetings in the building's “town hall.” 

Then, after lunch on-site or at one of many nearby restaurants, they might take advantage of the building's enhanced WiFi and work from the fourth-floor terrace or Altitude. Dragelin called the lounge atop the 12-story building at 2777 Crystal Drive the “main event” of the renovated NLC development.

Altitude features a major conferencing hub, touchdown spaces and an open-air terrace with panoramic views of the Capitol, Potomac River and Reagan National Airport flight paths. NLC's central location in National Landing also gives tenants convenient access to destinations such as transit hubs, Amazon HQ2 and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.

But NLC provides more than a place to have a drink with colleagues and watch planes take off and land. The building's owner has put considerable effort into making the office suites appeal to employees, many of whom will likely have hybrid work schedules. 

In addition to the amenities, major differentiators of the project include its full-height windows with plenty of access to natural light on each of the 30K SF-plus floors. Goldstein said this makes every space in the building feel like a window seat, a feature not usually available in the National Landing office submarket. The office spaces also feature generous slab-to-slab and finished ceiling heights, he said. 

“NLC provides an entire suite of experientially inspiring spaces for employees’ enjoyment and productivity,” Goldstein said. “Combine these amenities with efficient, column-free tenant spaces, trophy views enhanced by floor-to-ceiling sound-resistive windows and a best-in-class focus on health and wellness — all located in the heart of the dynamic National Landing ecosystem — and NLC provides everything a company could ask for to make their employee experience inspirational, healthy and productive.”

Tenant wellness and building sustainability are high priorities, according to owner Affinius. Both NLC buildings have attained LEED certification in the categories of new construction and existing building operations and maintenance.

The development also has earned LEED Gold certification, a high Energy Star rating and designation as a BOMA 360 Performance Building. The buildings share a five-level parking garage with EV charging stations, but NLC’s participation in the Mobility Next initiative attests to a commitment to providing building users with transportation options besides automobiles.

“We care for our tenants and their health and well-being,” the Affinius NLC management team told Bisnow in an email. “Our sustainability initiatives deliver on the triple bottom line by reducing impacts to the environment, benefiting our tenants and community, and reducing operating costs and resource waste.”

This sustainability focus, combined with the buildings’ renovations, make NLC a preferred choice for tenants seeking an optimal office setting, Dragelin said.

He said leasing activity has been significant, including the American Legislative Exchange Council's long-term lease of more than 12K SF at 2733 Crystal Drive. Prime Vision, a firm specializing in process automation, has also executed a long-term lease at NLC. Both tenants were represented by Michael Goldman of Transwestern.

“We have a full range of spaces at National Landing Center, from smaller, pre-built suites up to a full-building, 330K SF block with incredible signage for a larger user,” Dragelin said. “There’s something for everyone here.”

The Northern Virginia brokerage community will have the chance to see these spaces and much more at NLC’s inaugural post-renovation broker event on June 12, he said.

This article was produced in collaboration between JLL and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.