CoStar makes deal to move into Arlington HQ in early 2025

CoStar Group is accelerating its headquarters move from Washington, D.C., to Arlington County, thanks to a deal with a tenant in the headquarters building that included a $48 million early termination fee.

The global real estate data and analytics company, best known for its Apartments.com and Homes.com marketplaces, announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Arlington in February. CoStar founder and CEO Andy Florance told Virginia Business in mid-October that some CoStar employees were already working in the building and CoStar planned to have “a significant percentage of [its] team in the Washington metropolitan area” moved there by May 2025. Now, CoStar plans to have the headquarters move finished in early 2025.

CoStar purchased the Central Place Tower at 1201 Wilson Blvd. for a reported $339 million in February, with plans to invest $20 million in the move. CoStar also secured sole use of the previously public 12,000-square-foot observation deck at the top of the building (formerly The View of DC), paying Arlington County $13.95 million, funding the county manager has proposed be put toward the planned redevelopment of a nearby 3-acre park.

The tenant releasing office space, Connecticut-based research and advisory firm Gartner, paid CoStar a $48 million early termination fee and ceded 11 floors of the 560,000-square-foot office tower. Gartner signed a new lease for about 49,000 square feet on the 11th and 12th floors through December 2032. The deal “unlocks sufficient space” for CoStar to relocate its headquarters, according to CoStar’s Nov. 1 news release.

“We’ve always intended for 1201 Wilson to become CoStar Group’s headquarters, but this agreement makes it possible for us to complete that process even faster and to better accommodate our continued rapid growth and expansion,” Florance said in a statement.

CoStar’s lease on its current headquarters — 1331 L St. NW in Washington, D.C. — is set to expire in 2025. The company bought the building for more than $41 million in 2010 and sold it in 2011 for $101 million, completing a sale-leaseback deal for a more than 140% return.

The real estate data and analytics firm has heavily invested in Virginia, with a $460.5 million expansion of its Richmond presence underway and expected to be completed in 2026. When complete, its Corporate Innovation Campus is set to have 1 million square feet of office space.

CoStar reported $2.46 billion in 2023 revenue. Founded in 1986, it has more than 6,400 employees.