Owner Boston Properties is currently in the midst of the construction process. The lease paves the way for the agricultural producers' organization to relocate from its 29,400-sf space in attached sister building Capital Gallery East, where it has made its for the past 25 years.

Surrounded by a host of federal agencies such as the US Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Education near the National Mall, Capital Gallery carries the address of 600 Maryland Ave. SW and sits atop the L'Enfant Metro station. Capital Gallery West will be a 10-story structure reinvented from a low-rise facility. AFBF's neighbors in the building will include the Smithsonian Institution, which preleased 69,000 sf last year.

Lois Zambo, Steve London and Scott Hoffman of Studley represented AFBF, as they have for the past few decades; while Boston Properties relied on the internal representation of Raymond Ritchey, Jonathan Kaylor and Anne DuMont. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed; however, the average rental rate for class AA office space in the Southwest submarket is $49.49 per sf, according to Cushman & Wakefield. AFBF plans to move into its new home this summer.