It's Another Full-Building Lease for Suburban Maryland

1201 Clopper Rd.

GAITHERSBURG, MD—In recent days two separate leases were announced in suburban Maryland in which the tenant took an entire building. Earlier this month Abt Associates signed a lease for 155,000 square feet at Executive Plaza in North Bethesda, MD — largest private-sector new lease transaction in Montgomery County since 2007. This week Novavax comes so close to topping the Abt Associates deal. It has signed a lease for 147,051 square feet at 1201 Clopper Rd., which will serve as the clinical-stage vaccine maker’s laboratory and manufacturing facility. The building is owned by Equus. It was originally part of a four-building office and lab portfolio acquired in 2013 by an affiliate of the BPG Investment Partnership, which is managed by Equus.  Equus can develop an additional 100,000 square-feet at 2 West Watkins Mill Road, directly adjacent to 1201 Clopper Road. Bernie McCarthy of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the landlord and Pete Briskman and Joe Judge of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Absorption in the market is clearly accelerating even without the full-building leases. Sandwiched between the Abt Associates and Novavax deals was the announcement that Bethesda Place I and II secured six leases gently totaling 228,513 square feet. The buildings, located at 7600 and 7700 Wisconsin Ave., are owned by affiliates of Polinger Co. and The Tower Cos.  “Touring activity with Class A and Trophy assets has increased noticeably,” said Jim Cahill, Senior Vice President of CBRE, one of the brokers to  close the deals.  “These leases demonstrate the continued flight to quality with tenants’ preference for a “live, work, play” environment with Metro access and stable ownership.” By the numbers suburban Maryland is also looking good. In the first quarter it posted 215,942 square feet of positive net absorption, according to CBRE’s Market View for the first quarter. Notable deals included education company 2U’s 250,000 square foot lease in Lanham as well as co-working service Serendipity Labs’ 18,731-square foot new lease at Carr Properties’ 4500 East West Highway in Bethesda.