Corporate Office Properties Trust announces build-to-suit project in Ashburn

Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) said Wednesday that it has executed a long-term lease with a subsidiary of an investment-grade Fortune 500 company to deliver a 120,000-square-foot shell building on land COPT owns in Ashburn.

According to the Columbia, Md.-based real estate investment trust (REIT), this will be the third building of a three-building campus for the undisclosed customer, who now leases 430,000 square feet at Ashburn Crossing. 
Construction is underway with COPT anticipating the lease to start in the second quarter of 2015.

COPT is an office REIT that focuses on serving the specialized requirements of U.S. government agencies and defense contractors, most of which are engaged in defense information technology and national security-related activities.

As of September, COPT said it derived 77% of its annualized revenue from its strategic tenant niche properties and 23% from regional office properties. The company acquires, develops, manages and leases office and data center properties concentrated in large office parks primarily located near knowledge-based government demand drivers and/or in markets in the greater Washington, D.C./Baltimore region.
As of September 30, the company’s consolidated portfolio consisted of 174 office properties totaling 16.9 million rentable square feet.