A local office of New York's The Greenwich Group International announced in March 2001 that it had been chosen to market both the Sarnia company and its property. News of the B&R deal first surfaced in October of last year, but the transaction was just recently completed.

Sitting on 15.76 acres in Fairfax County's I-395 Corridor, Versar Center offers two four-story office buildings of 110,00-sf each. The first structure was erected in 1982, while the second building was constructed four years later. Fairfax County records show a January 2001 assessment of the buildings at approximately $8.4 million and $9.7 million, respectively. Engineering firms, environmental consultants, government agencies and contractors dominate the tenant list. The Defense Contract Audit Agency, RGE Engineering and Matsys are among the companies leasing space in the park.

B&R has been taking steps to prepare for the lease ending of the General Services Administration, the real estate arm of the federal government, at the company's Waterside Mall Complex. "[The Sarnia deal] is a continuation of our previously articulated strategy of acquiring entities and/or assets that generate current income to replace income the company will cease receiving from the GSA," company COO Sidney M. Bresler tells GlobeSt.com. "Its lease expires in the latter part of September." Late in 2001, B&R joined with developer Cohen Cos., LLC to purchase the nine-building Washington Business Park for $55 million; another transaction designed to stave off losses from the GSA arrangement.