Jamestown Inks 27K-SF NoVA Office Lease With Construction Firm Gilbane Building

Real estate investment and management firm Jamestown has locked in a new tenant at one of its properties in Arlington, Va., stealing the spotlight from the firm’s recent retail activity across the Potomac in Georgetown. 

Gilbane Building Company, one of the largest privately owned construction companies in the world, inked a 27,000-square-foot office lease at Jamestown’s Ballston Exchange, a mixed-use plaza in Arlington’s Ballston neighborhood. Jamestown has controlled the two-building property since acquiring it for $300 million in 2015, according to property records. The firm later redeveloped it into a mix of office, retail and dining space. 

The property at 4201 and 4121 Wilson Boulevard is just a block away from the Ballston-MU Metro station. At over 776,000 square feet, Ballston Exchange hosts a variety of tenants such as the Agricultural Retailers Association, tech consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as well as Italian deli Grazie Grazie and fitness centers Orange Theory Fitness and CorePower Yoga.

Gilbane Building already operates an office out of Monday Properties’ 1100 North Glebe Road, less than a mile northwest of Ballston Exchange. The amount of square footage it uses there was not immediately clear, but Tyler Swartzwelder, Gilbane Building’s D.C. business leader, indicated that his firm will combine its offices into Ballston Exchange. Gilbane Building plans to move into the new space in 2026.

“This move will increase our overall footprint while consolidating our operations onto a single floor, creating a more collaborative experience for employees and visitors,” Swartzwelder said in a statement.  As we continue to grow our regional presence, the proximity to Metro provides our team with better connectivity to our clients and partners throughout D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.”

Gilbane’s construction arm isn’t the only division of its business making moves in Arlington lately. Gilbane Development Company earlier this year paid just $14.9 million for 3601 Wilson Boulevard, a six-story, 121,000-square-foot office about half a mile east of Ballston Exchange. Seller LaSalle Investment Management acquired the office for about $62 million in 2011. Gilbane Development aims to redevelop the office into 94 residences, along with 5,637 square feet of ground-floor retail space. 

Jamestown, for its part, has garnered a few headlines for its activity in Washington, D.C.’s upscale Georgetown neighborhood so far this year. Last month, the company inked a 22,000-square-foot retail lease with clothing brand Uniqlo at the landlord’s Georgetown Park complex. In January, it sold its stake in Georgetown Renaissance, a 22-building portfolio in Georgetown to former co-owner Arcadia Realty Trust. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.