Two Chantilly Office Buildings Drop $126.4M in Value Since 2007
A pair of Chantilly office buildings known as Washington Technology Park I and II (pictured) in the Westfields Corporate Center, have yet to bounce back from the Great Recession, dropping a shocking 68% in value—from $187.5M to just $61.1M—since 2007. How it happened: For starters, government contractors began cutting back when federal spending dried up. CSC, the lead tenant of Washington Technology Park I went from 180,286 SF down to 19,625 SF, while Northrop Grumman, which occupied 65% of building II, got out of its lease altogether, the Washington Post reports. Meanwhile the vacancy rate in North Virginia and Fairfax County rose, driving down rents. And it doesn't help that the building is far from public transit and walkable amenities when people want more urbanized neighborhoods. A $150M loan taken out against the properties during more promising times has since been transferred to a special servicer. However, the buildings' owner, Corporate Office Properties Trust, defends the buildings' potential——saying that the value drop was a product of the buildings' fractured ownership and not the Chantilly market. COPT adds that it has not managed the buildings since mid-2014. [WaPo]
