The nearly-finished office project remains without any tenants as of this writing. I actually found an old story which revealed that one of Montgomery County's most recent fumbles in attracting a major corporation involved this building. Instelsat S.A. was scouting potential new homes for its headquarters, then located in the District off of Connecticut Avenue. According to the article, the firm seriously considered the 4500 East-West building, but ultimately opted to go to Northern Virginia. Instelsat is now the anchor tenant in Macerich's impressive Tysons Tower, Fairfax County's first billion dollar property.
Other tenants at Tysons Tower include Deloitte Consulting, which leased 88,000 SF.
In addition to the higher cost, and less-friendly business environment of Montgomery County, traffic congestion and lack of direct access to Dulles Airport were obviously factors, as well. Intelsat's CEO, David McGlade, specifically cited "a first-class transportation system" as one of the company's must-haves in choosing a new headquarters. Tysons Tower has direct access to the Capital Beltway, the new 495 Express Lanes (which are only on the Virginia side of the Beltway), and the Tysons Corner Metro station. In the near future, the building will have direct rail access to Dulles Airport, when the Silver Line is extended there.
Access to the Bethesda Metro station is one of the major advantages 4500 East-West has going for it. But as anyone who drives in downtown Bethesda knows, traffic is a nightmare, as is trying to reach the Beltway from here during rush hour. Driving to here from Dulles Airport or vice-versa? Fuhgeddaboudit!
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How much is it costing to keep this building with no tenants?
ReplyDelete10:03 - It's costing a lot. Jim Humphrey of the MoCo Civic Federation wrote an article last year which said developers may get a tax break when a certain portion of their building is vacant. Other than that, the expenses come in and there's no revenue to offset them.
DeleteHas anyone else moved into the Pike and Rose office space in North Bethesda?
ReplyDelete10:04 Not that I've heard.
DeleteHow can there be so much residental but no one wants to relocate office space here? Weird, right?
ReplyDeleteWeird, but the result of a horrific business climate, and a failed transportation system. We're becoming the ultimate bedroom community for those who work in DC and Virginia.
DeleteWhere do people who live in Bethesda work? Bethesda or DC?
ReplyDelete10:05 Mostly in DC and NoVa.
DeleteHow do service industry workers afford to work at restaurants in Bethesda?
ReplyDelete10:06 By living far away from Bethesda.
DeleteIntelsat got a $1 million tax break from the state of Virginia to move to Tysons. FORGOT TO ADD THAT ONE IN THERE DIDNT YOU YOU CLOWN!!!!!!
ReplyDelete10:37 Yep, and in contrast, Montgomery County spent $4 million for a Costco store. Pretty embarrassing, right?
DeleteTo anonymous 10:37 AM:
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing unusual about tax breaks or even subsidies. Please deal in facts, not fantasy.
Recent examples in MoCo:
Costco got a $4 million subsidy to move into Wheaton.
Choice Hotels got a $4.2 million subsidy from City of Rockville and Montgomery County to stay in MoCo and move their HQ and hotel to Rockville.
Why isn't Robert reporting on the iPhone 6!?
ReplyDeleteOH, I GUESS IT'S A COINCIDENCE ROBERT DYER NEGLECTS TO MENTION THAT FACT AS A REASON FOR WHY THE COMPANY WENT TO TYSONS INSTEAD OF BETHESDA.
ReplyDeleteIT'S NOT A COINCIDENCE. HE'S A DISASTER OF A REPORTER AND A CLOWN OF A POLITICAL CANDIDATE.
STOP DEFENDING HIM IN THE COMMENTS SECTION MRS. DYER (HIS MOTHER).
11:15 That wasn't the sole reason. The cost of doing business in Montgomery County, a poor transportation system, and no direct access to Dulles Airport were also factors. The current Council hasn't attracted a single major firm to the county in over a decades - and you're saying *I'm* the clown? You sound foolish, Mr. All Caps.
DeleteThis is the anonymous troll's usual pattern:
ReplyDelete1. Make false statement.
2. You're confronted with facts.
3. Then you make ad hominem attacks.
Really gets old. You get my vote for "Best Troll on a Bethesda News Site" in the The Best of Bethesda voting.
You really expect us to believe that local governments don't offer incentives to businesses to move in?
Costco and Choice are just two examples. Rockville offered incentives to Choice but stand to make millions back in tax revenues alone.
If true as troll commenter claims, why didn't Mr. Dyer mention the Virginia incentive?
ReplyDeleteTalking about the incentives just makes Montgomery County sound even more incompetent. $4 M for a Costco store vs. $1 M for Intelsat? Humiliating comparison, 11:48.
Delete11:48AM: You might want to tighten your tin foil hat a bit.
ReplyDeleteSome of the nonsense I see on this blog really makes me wonder what's going on in the author's head.
ReplyDeleteThe Intelsat executives clearly stated that the reason they chose Tysons over Bethesda (and 800 Glebe in Arlington, and two DC properties) was because it was more accessible by car for Virginia commuters.
It had nothing to do with the county dropping the ball, even they have done so many times in the past.
12:03 The superior highway access of the Tysons location was a major point of my article. Did you read all the way through?
DeleteUnless you have the trophy, you officially "dropped the ball," as MoCo did in this case.
In the Post article, the Intelsat CEO emphasized the mass transit aspect of the move:
ReplyDelete“We were not going to move here if we didn’t have mass transit for our employees,” chief executive David McGlade said in an interview last week.
He also mentioned being able to be involved in the layout of the new building.
12:14 4500 East-West is a block from Bethesda Metro, so transit was not the determining factor in Intelsat's decision.
DeleteIt's interesting the Biz Journal article that Intelsat plays up all the amenities of the mall in Tysons.
ReplyDelete12:25 Yes, Tysons mall will be a lure for millennials to live and work in the new Tysons.
DeleteI don't get the "walkability" touted by Tyson's. I've taken their metro and it's a long walk with obstacles and congestion. They had traffic officers stopping cars for pedestrians crossing over - signs of bad design.
Delete@ 3:25 PM [sic - actually 6:25 PM EDT]
ReplyDeleteBecause Millennials are so totally in love with enclosed malls.
2:23 I'm surrounded by millennials everytime I'm at Tysons, so it's apparently the case.
DeleteI though that McDonalds was going to move back into the ground floor after construction was done. Is that not the case?
ReplyDelete2:44 Although there was never anything said officially or publicly, that was indeed a rumor. The for lease sign for that ground floor restaurant space suggests the golden arches have gone dark permanently in downtown Bethesda.
DeleteAnd Bethesda just announced the metro escalators will be torn up and replaced. This will take two years to complete. When will it all end...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI heard a local chef may be taking over that space, someone from bethesda. Any news on who this could be ?
ReplyDeleteIf so, what concept would work best in this space.
What does bethesda need?
Such a challenged location don't you think?