Washington, D.C., April 21, 2009… Despite the slow pace of office leasing activity in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, leases totaling nearly 94,400 square feet were recently signed at three of the new office buildings located within the NoMa (north of Massachusetts Avenue) Business Improvement District (BID).• On behalf of the Veterans Administration, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) leased 35,000 square feet at One NoMa Station at 131 M Street, N.E., bringing the building to 90 percent occupancy. David Alperstein of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the ownership, San Francisco-based Bristol Group.

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), whose 521,000 square foot lease at Constitution Square was announced last year, recently inked a 54,790 SF expansion to occupy all 575,790 SF of office space in the building, Two Constitution Square at 145 N Street, N.E. The building is part of the 1.6 million square foot mixed-use Constitution Square development that also will include a Harris Teeter grocery store, a Hilton Garden Inn, a residential building and additional office space. The largest private-sector development currently under construction in the District, Constitution Square is being developed by affiliates of StonebridgeCarras of Bethesda, MD and Walton Street Capital of Chicago, IL. Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers represented the landlord in the lease transaction, while Studley represented GSA, which leased the building on behalf of DoJ.

• VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, one of the nation’s largest providers of end-of-life care, has leased 4,600 SF at the Capitol Plaza building for its Washington regional office. Joe Michel of CBRE represented the landlord, an affiliate of The Polinger Company. Designed by renowned architect Shalom Baranes, Capitol Plaza offers 293,000 rentable square feet of Class A office space, with dramatic Capitol and city views from the upper floors.

“This recent leasing activity in the midst of an economic downturn demonstrates the appeal of NoMa to federal, non-profit, and private sector office tenants,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMa BID. “NoMa’s proximity to the U.S. Capitol, Red Line Metro station, access to Route 50 and the airports, and its favorable rental rates combine to make a compelling case for organizations seeking to expand and relocate in the District.”

NoMa is a rapidly developing mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in Washington, D.C. In 2007-2008, private developers invested over $1 billion in the 35-block area covered by the NoMa BID, and have plans to develop more than 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space over the next ten years. For more information about the BID, including an interactive development map, see the BID Web site at nomabid.wpengine.com.