Skanska Inks 164K-SF Lease With Law Firm for Planned DC Office Tower
By Keith Loria October 4, 2021 5:32 pm
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Skanska has landed an anchor tenant for 17xM, a new office tower planned for Downtown Washington, D.C.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, an international law firm, signed a 16-year, 163,750-square-foot lease at the planned 11-story development at 1700 M Street. The deal will fill more than half of the office space in the 330,000-square-foot property.
Skanska will begin developing the $216 million property in the fourth quarter of the year, with a scheduled delivery date of 2024. The site is owned by JBG Smith (JBGS), but operated by Skanska via a long-term ground lease.
The law firm will be moving its D.C. offices from its current home at 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW.
“17xM sets a new standard for the future of office in D.C., one that requires elegant, thoughtful, flexible design, situated in a high-demand location,” Mark Carroll, executive vice president and regional manager for Skanska USA, told Commercial Observer. “The fact that Gibson Dunn signed a 16-year lease on more than half of the available office space is a testament to the company’s priority of providing a safe, sustainable, dynamic workplace for its employees to thrive. This lease is incredibly positive and will be the start to an incredibly innovative project.”
Located at the intersection of 17 Street and M Street NW, between the White House and Dupont Circle, the building will be the first SmartScore-certified office building in North America. The project will also pursue LEED Gold, Fitwel and WiredScore certifications.
“Tenants, now, more than ever, want buildings that are flexible, smart, efficient and will evolve with their needs,” Carroll said. “At Skanska, we deliver cutting-edge and sustainably built environments that speak to these tenant needs.”
Arup’s smart building systems and sustainability experts worked closely with Skanska and KPF from the early stages of design to put 17xM on the path to achieving LEED Gold and WIRED certification, providing multidisciplinary services for the project including IT and communications (ITC), sustainability, structural, mechanical, electrical, public health, fire, acoustics and vibration consulting.
There is approximately 147,000 square feet of office, and approximately 13,000 square feet of retail space available for lease.
JLL (JLL) represented Gibson Dunn in the lease, while Skanska represented itself.
Update: This story originally misattributed source material. This has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
