Nvidia Signs Downtown D.C. Office Lease as Trophy Buildings Outperform

The most valuable company in the country is expanding its presence in the nation’s capital.

NVIDIA signed an office lease in Washington, D.C., to become the latest technology company to take space in the District while demand concentrates in the market’s premier buildings. The artificial intelligence chipmaker signed a 27,600-square-foot sublease at Douglas Development’s Woodies Building at 1025 F Street NW, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s second-quarter market report.

The space is being subleased from Morning Consult, which leased the building’s entire 50,000-square-foot eighth floor in 2020, according to Bisnow. Nvidia also maintains an office in Herndon, Va.

The new Nvidia lease adds another high-profile tenant to the Woodies Building, where Netflix is also opening a 24,000-square-foot office and entertainment space. The building has simultaneously been backfilling space previously occupied by the FBI, whose roughly 200,000-square-foot lease expired last year. Nvidia also reinforces a trend of tech firms expanding in Downtown Washington, which has seen CoreWeave, SpaceX and potentially Google taking new deals.

Washington’s office recovery remains uneven while its premier buildings have separated themselves from the rest of the market. Cushman & Wakefield reported trophy office vacancy finished the quarter at just 13.4 percent, while overall vacancy climbed to 23.3 percent in the second quarter. Gross leasing totaled 1.6 million square feet during the quarter, and 2.9 million square feet during the first half, down roughly 12 percent from the same period last year.

Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.