Located in the Capital Hill submarket at 700 Second St. NE, the project is part an ambitious three-building site, totaling 1.6 million sf on 5.5-acres. The class A buildings will be 10-stories, designed to Silver LEED standards. Delivery is expected in the fall of 2009. Floor plates will be as large as 55,000 sf. The architect is Kevin Roche. Given the building's finish and green bona fides, one potential use case is as a headquarters site, says Pascal.

Asking rates for the building will be in the mid $50s per sf, Liss tells GlobeSt.com. "We will be targeting both private and public sector companies that are seeking value-oriented rent rates," she says. The builders are also counting on a shift in the city's office demographics as more companies are moving east of the CBD for various reasons including more reasonable rent rates and more space availability. Tenants on the same block include the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has leased the first two phases at Station Place, US Senate Office Buildings, the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building and CNN.