Bethesda-based Lantian Development has purchased the COMSAT property, a high-profile 204-acre site and building on Interstate 270 in Clarksburg, for $11.5 million. John Wang of RE/MAX represented Lantian in the all-cash transaction that closed Tuesday. LCOR was the seller.
The Cesar Pelli-designed 496,000 SF headquarters building is highly visible from I-270. It was constructed for COMSAT in 1969 as a research facility.
In addition to the modernist main building and 3,600 feet of frontage on I-270, there are three "special purpose" buildings that total another 36,000 SF.
Among the good news in this deal - Lantian is bucking the pressure from Montgomery County elected officials to turn job centers into residential housing, and is considering keeping it as office or research use, such as for pharmaceuticals. The 270 corridor is home to one of the few bright spots in Montgomery County's moribund economic development climate, biotechnology.
“We are here to contribute to the growth of the Washington region, creating synergy and job opportunities,” Lantian Development co-founder and CFO Shawn Li said yesterday. “Over the next five years, we hope to continue to develop projects in this region and expand into other markets as well.”
After barely a year in the local real estate market, Lantian has already made a name for itself with several high-profile projects in Montgomery County. In the commercial field, the vacant COMSAT property has been one of the most talked about in business and real estate circles countywide.
22 comments:
Moribund!!!
"The 270 corridor is home to one of the few bright spots in Montgomery County's moribund economic development climate, biotechnology."
The northern I-270 corridor has much higher office vacancy rates than the rest of the county. An order of magnitude compared to Bethesda or Silver Spring.
"the vacant COMSAT property has been one of the most talked about in business and real estate circles countywide"
If 204 acres of prime real estate sells for just $11.5 million, we have to assume that most of the talk has been about how little value there is in old office parks.
Would be a great location for the Robert Dyer Institute of Culinary Review Research
"Talked about" simply because it's visible, not necessarily that it's currently desirable.
How's the former Fairchild complex at I-270 and Germantown Road doing? Lockheed Martin had that for several years but they abandoned it, too.
Bethesda-based Lantian Development has purchased the COMSAT property, a high-profile 204-acre site and building on Interstate 270 in Clarksburg, for $11.5 million. That's $56,400 per acre.
Lantian...is considering keeping it as office or research use, such as for pharmaceuticals.
Sounds like they bought the site dirt-cheap, but haven't quite figured out what to do with it.
The site for the 8300 Wisconsin Avenue project, 1.6 acres, cost $29 million in about 2010, and that was just after the recession ended. That's $18,125,000 per acre, nearly 150 times the price per acre of the Comsat site.
Real Estate companies are know to land bank properties they determine will have future potential, and that is what appears to be happening here. The rapidly developing Clarksburg area is ripe for supplying a future tenant with accessible residential stock.
"Montgomery County's moribund economic development "
Seriously? Nothing is moribund about the county's economy? The office market, particularly is pretty bad, but that's for the DC Area in general.
Dyer wrote "moribund". Everybody drink!
8:04: Yes, moribund indeed. No large corporation has relocated its headquarters to MoCo in over a decade.
12:40: Another year, another Montgomery County budget deficit - $47 million and counting. Clearly our leaders are talented and wise.
@12:55 I agree with your sarcasm. Did you see the bellyaching over the meeting to end the DLC monopoly earlier this week? It's like the Council finds it impossible to balance a budget -- it's just raise taxes one after the other, instead of cutting spending.
@ 12:53 PM: But a large corporation, Marriott, just took over another large corporation, Starwood, which was not headquartered in Maryland. Why doesn't that count?
@ 12:55 PM - A deficit of $47 million divided by 1 million County residents equals $47 million. I'm not going to lose any sleep over that.
The federal deficit for Republican President George Bush's final fiscal year, FY 2009, was $1.4 trillion for 300 million Americans, or $4,700 each, or 100 times the above.
Correction to 2:18 PM - Second instance of "$47 million" should have been "$47". Still not losing any sleep over that. :)
If your lone argument is that no large corporation has relocated its headquarters to MoCo in over a decade, then I'm inclined to disbelieve that single factor as a sole indicator.
I think a really good post for you would be to compare MoCo's economy to both local and nationwide counties so that we can get a better understanding where you are coming from when you say "moribund" again and again.
We're happy to see the data and make an informed analysis and form an opinion. Most here are just smart enough not to go by a single person's word/opinion without validation, believable credible source, and due diligence.
So every time dyer says moribund we drink.
Every time the county brings up the 30m as a reason not to get rid of the DLC we drink.
Every time the union says think of our jobs we drink.
We drink for office park vacancies and conversions.
Every time the county says we're just looking at possible BRT routes. Not talking about budget or logistics or feasibility of anything remotely logical as a first step and we just wanna burn money without checking out practicality and demand and we have no data to show this is wanted or needed or will work we drink.
Every time a NIMBY complains about only the project in their backyard we drink.
Every time CCT users bemoan the purple line and say that a small path doesn't count so we might as well market it as they are getting rid of the CCT we drink.
Every time Greenhill posts a vacancy sign we drink.
Every time a restaurant or retail goes out of business we drink. Twice if it is Greenhill.
This could go on and on in many fun drinking ways!
Wrol, don't forget all those drinks will have to either be bought from a County liquor monopoly, or with an extra Riemer Tax added, should the special orders and private competition proposals pass in Annapolis. "Montgomery County - Falling further behind DC and Virginia every year." - New marketing slogan for MoCo's "private" economic development corporation.
Haha yes I agree the county monopoly needs to go.
I would love to see some data analysis for yor blanket statement that Montgomery County is falling further behind DC and Virginia every year.
I concur.
re: Wrol -- No, of course The Moribund Dyer is never going to present data analysis for his blanket statement about "MoCo Moribundness" because (a) it's a trope; (b) it would take him too much time; (c) deep down, I don't think he actually believes it himself!
Is the economy as bad off as His Moribundness says?? IMHO the answer is a definite, screaming NO, and even This Here Moribund Website presents the contrary evidence. Look to all the condo development photos here; Pike & Rose; Park Potomac is in it's next construction phase; Crown Farm; Silver Spring revitalization; Gaithersburg and Germantown and Clarksburg continue to be built out; etc. etc. That there are arguments about "what to do with Westbard" is actually a great additional piece in the argument that PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT TO LIVE AND SPEND THEIR CASH IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Absolutely MoCo can continue to do better but His Depressedly Moribundness's trope about MoCo's moribundness is a big pile, IMHO.
I concur
I agree. Dyer is too busy with his day job to bother with data and stats and analysis.
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