ALEXANDRIA, VA-The 280,000-sf Alexandria Corporate Park gets a new occupant with the General Services Administration's recent 10-year lease commitment to 60,000 sf in the Bren Mar Drive complex. The GSA will house offices of the Federal Protective Service in the space.

WASHINGTON, DC-The Mortgage Bankers Association of America comes out again for terrorism insurance legislation as Fitch downgrades nine AAA classes from three single CMBS transactions due to insufficient or non-existent terrorism insurance coverage. The certificates involve nearly $834 million.

FAIRFAX, VA-Parvizian Masterpieces commits to 24,000 sf of space in the 268,000-sf Fairfax Shopping Center. The new locale is the rug and furniture outlet's fourth store in the Washington Metropolitan region.

DULLES, VA-Nordstrom opens at the 1.4 million-sf Dulles Town Center, becoming the shopping mall's fifth anchor store. The 144,000-sf fashion retail store occupies a two-story space in a newly built portion of the mall.

BALTIMORE, MD-The Hearing and Speech Agency is online to construct a $7 million, 47,800-sf facility in the 157-acre Seton Business Park. The organization recently attained the Baltimore City Board of Estimates' approval to acquire a 3.2-acre plot on which to build the new center.

WEST CREEK, VA-Motorola Inc. announces it will not build the $3-billion semiconductor facility that has been in the works--off and on--since 1995. Now the 362-acre property acquired for the planned 1.5-million-sf facility at West Creek Business Park goes on the market.

RICHMOND, VA-The Richmond Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals debuts its new local headquarters with the opening of the $14-million Robins-Starr Humane Center. The 64,000-sf complex on Hermitage Road is the organization's first state-of-the-art-facility and will serve as a model for SPCA buildings to come.

BALTIMORE, MD-Mercy Health Services announces a new $42-million expansion project that will serve as a previously unplanned second phase of the $118-million development project currently in progress.