JLL Lands “Dream” Assignment in Northern Virginia

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Mark Levy, JLL

Washington—A developer’s dream just became available in suburban Washington, D.C., and commercial real estate services firm JLL has been charged with spearheading the marketing and sale process. An ownership partnership headed by successful Eastern Maryland entrepreneur Jay Taustin selected JLL to find a buyer for more than 260 acres of land adjacent to the under-construction WMATA Loudoun Gateway Metro Station in Northern Virginia. The land, located in Loudoun County near Dulles International Airport, could fetch as much as $100 million, according to an industry source.

Selling a 260-acre site in pieces is one thing, but securing a single buyer for such a sizeable parcel is something else altogether; it’s not for the faint of heart. “We were looking for a highly experienced, collaborative team who would reach the largest possible pool of buyers,” Tustin said in a prepared statement. “Combined with their global reach and expertise, JLL is the best fit to help us maximize our investment.”

It’s a silver opportunity, so to speak, as the Loudoun Gateway Station is part of the second phase of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project’s highly anticipated, 23-mile Silver Line extension. “This is the largest single development tract located directly adjacent to a Metro stop in the Washington, D.C., region,” Mark Levy, managing director with JLL, told Commercial Property Executive. “This property offers an unprecedented development opportunity which offers a potential wide range of product mix including office, data center and ancillary retail.”

Office conditions are sunny in the Loudoun area, which JLL deemed a rising submarket in a fourth quarter report. And Northern Virginia continued to lead the U.S. data center market, recording more positive absorption that any other data hub in the country during the first half of 2016. Regardless the property mix, the for-sale site’s location along the new Silver Line positions it for success. “In addition to broadening reach to Dulles Airport, [the Silver Line] will allow Loudoun County to connect to the regional labor force and draw new business to the market,” Levy added. The proof is in the pudding. Per the JLL report, tenants continue to relocate and expand along the Silver Line Corridor, while non-Metro accessible submarkets have struggled.

Image courtesy of JLL