Great Minds Doubles Space in DC Office Lease Renewal
By Keith Loria June 7, 2021 2:29 pm
reprints
Great Minds, an educational organization, has signed an 18,069-square-foot renewal and expansion at 55 M Street SE, a nine-story building in the Ballpark neighborhood of Washington, D.C., Commercial Observer has learned.
The company is more than doubling its space at the 267,652-square-foot, Class A, Spear Street Capital-owned property, which recently underwent a major renovation.
“We moved to Southeast D.C. as our company grew,” Lynne Munson, Great Minds’ founder and CEO, said in a statement. “The neighborhood was great when we got here in 2014, and it has only gotten better. We knew we wanted to stay and being able to expand our offices in a newly renovated building made the decision very easy.”
The new space will span across the building’s third floor.
Newmark (NMRK) director Gary Cuadros represented the tenant, while JLL (JLL)’s Evan Behr, Nate Beach and Emily Balkam represented the landlord.
“This was a great opportunity for Great Minds to expand and revamp their existing space,” Cuadros said in a statement. “We believe their new office will allow the brand to continue its growth and create an inclusive and cohesive environment as they begin to welcome their employees back to the office.”
The building’s renovation included a new lobby, private tenant terraces, on-site bike storage, a cutting-edge fitness center, and a 20,000-square-foot rooftop and garden that provides views of the U.S. Capitol. The LEED Silver-certified building is directly above the Navy Yard Metro and offers immediate access to South Capitol Street, I-395 and I-295.
According to the most recent Newmark report on the national office market, the U.S. began to see the light at the end of the tunnel during Q1 2021, with vaccinations becoming more widespread, and companies bringing more people back to work. The Ballpark neighborhood is leading the office resurgence in the District, with strong leasing activity, the report noted.
