Transwestern Takes Over Office Leasing At Reston Town Center
The office leasing at Reston Town Center will now be managed by a new firm, but with the same man who has represented the pioneering mixed-use project for three decades.
Boston Properties retained Transwestern to lease the 2.5M SF of office space at Reston Town Center, Bisnow has learned. Transwestern Senior Vice President Alex Hancock and Executive Vice President Joe Ritchey will represent the developer.
Ritchey, the brother of Boston Properties D.C. head Ray Ritchey, managed leasing at Reston Town Center for 29 years through his own independent firm. But two years ago, he said Boston Properties decided his one-man shop did not provide enough resources given the scale of the project.
"My approach was successful as long as it could be," Joe Ritchey said. "Once it started to be overwhelmed by the quality of competitive offerings, two years ago Boston Properties acknowledged the deficiency of what I offered, and the market had moved past what I had to offer as a one-man show."
In January 2018, Joe Ritchey joined Transwestern. The 65-year-old broker then teamed up with Hancock, 32, to form a leasing team that would represent landlords of trophy office projects. Last year, they engaged in a competitive process before Boston Properties ultimately selected them for the project.
"It's an extremely meaningful win for our company nationally and in our region," Hancock said. "The prestige of Reston Town Center would elevate any firm, but when you're dealing with a smaller firm that doesn't have as many square feet under agency leasing, and to get something as prominent as Reston Town Center, it elevates the brand as a whole."
Of the 2.5M SF of office space the team will manage at Reston Town Center, roughly 164K SF is vacant, and another 378K SF is scheduled to come available within the next three years. Among those availabilities are the 160K SF space Leidos is leaving next year to move into a new, build-to-suit Reston Town Center office building. Tech company Appian, which subleased 130K SF at Reston Town Center, announced in April it would move to Tysons.
Ritchey said the rental rates Reston Town Center achieved have been some of the highest in the Northern Virginia suburbs, growing from about $40/SF to the $55/SF range, where it has remained in recent years. He said growth has slowed over the last few years as the center has lost some tenants to markets like Tysons, but the team is prepared to compete with its neighbors.
"Boston Properties is prepared to be very competitive going forward," Ritchey said. "Our commitment is to not lose a deal."
Reston Town Center has 450K SF of retail space, providing amenities that can help draw in office tenants, and in the coming years it will welcome a new Metro station less than a mile away when the Silver Line's second phase is completed.
"Having had 29 years of involvement with Reston Town Center, I have never been as excited about the future of Reston Town Center as I am now," Ritchey said. "There have been bumps in the road the last couple of years, but I think the future is extraordinary."
