Located at corner of Layton Hall and University. frankly, I thought no one would ever developed that property because it was a fairly steep hillside and lots of other office buildings in the area not fully leased. but I'll be d9mned if construction didn't start on this sucker shortly after the crash in 2008. but the building has sat empty since it was completed. I'm guessing closing in on 2 years now. What bank or whoever would lend money out on something like this? I'd think at this point the building has been empty for so long that the builder has probably lost the building to the lenders. why was this thing built. No market study. Biggest economic crash since Great Depression didn't give them second thoughts about building it?

A lot of times that money, plans, etc. are allocated well in advance - like 2 years in advance. The developer probably already had a financing deal, construction drawings, etc. and I'll bet it pained them to no end to follow through on that project.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

So who will the city give it to to fill it? GMU offices is my guess, or government services. Nice

There are dozens of buildings like that in Fairfax County.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/27/AR2010082704693.html

The complex at Westfields Blvd./Rt. 28 is mentioned in this article. Went up in 2007 and still vacant.
Attachments:

Those are the Darth Vader buildings - waiting for the Millennium.

What's the deal with this building? The parking lot is never used. There continues to be a "Welcome [xyz] company", but still no one inside. The building across the street, next to it, down the side street, etc. are all occupied. It's just this one building. Unless there is a garage or another parking lot somewhere on the side?
Attachments:

^ Forgot in message... this building is on Random Hills Road.

A lot of the warehouse style and mid-rise office buildings built in Dulles/Sterling during the internet bubble have been mostly vacant for the last 10 years. The vacancy rate is over 30 pct. Loudoun County located its Treasurer's office so there across from Costco. Mostly, the tenants seem to be healthcare-related (doctor's practices, radiology lab, blood donation center, etc.).

Exactly -- no shortage of see-through buildings out in Dulles/Sterling. Now, the Fairfax City building is a bit more surprising . . .

The research group Real Capital Analytics has listed more than 20 office buildings in the corridor as "troubled assets" because of owners who missed loan payments or because they have been put into the hands of a special servicer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/27/AR2010082704693_2.html

The City of Alexandria has one on Eisenhower Ave. It's been finished for 2 years and never occupied. Over a million sq. feet of office space and a huge parking lot.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4600+Eisenhower+Avenue,+Alexandria,+VA&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.452734,86.572266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4600+Eisenhower+Ave,+Alexandria,+Virginia+22304&t=h&ll=38.802816,-77.122216&spn=0.002191,0.005284&z=18

Commercial Broker here. So here is the deal. Totally empty buildings are being held totally empty for 'full building users' Trouble is there are not that many deals in the market for full buildings since the Bush depression. Unlike the Bush I S&L debacle (not my fault its the Bush's - that is just the way it is) the government is not bailing out the commercial lenders on this one.

So the commercial lenders have to hold the assets. Banks are not that great at leasing buildings. In fact the market rental rates have stayed high simply because commercial lenders wont write-down the assets and sell or lease at a loss. The result is buildings just stay empty for years.

It is very interesting and very different than the early 90's when all the non-recourse loans went bad. Effective rental rates back then were low enough that the assets could just be leased and filled...

PS that white tiered building is/was the Long and Foster building built around 89 I think - I put one of the first tenants in that bld. and toured it with P. Westly Foster himself.

thisbuilding Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's the deal with this building? The parking
> lot is never used. There continues to be a
> "Welcome company", but still no one inside. The
> building across the street, next to it, down the
> side street, etc. are all occupied. It's just this
> one building. Unless there is a garage or another
> parking lot somewhere on the side?


That used to be the main office/HQ for Long and Foster Realtors. They moved years ago to that monstrosity off of 28 in the Herndon/Sterling area.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

Warhawk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That used to be the main office/HQ for Long and
> Foster Realtors. They moved years ago to that
> monstrosity off of 28 in the Herndon/Sterling
> area.

How long ago was that?

Wouldn't doubt it was an HQ building, appears large.

brokerhere Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... since the Bush depression. Unlike the
> Bush I S&L debacle (not my fault its the Bush's -
> that is just the way it is) the government is not
> bailing out the commercial lenders on this one.

You lose credibility with statements like this. The Bush depression?

Do you really want to blame President Bush then, but not President Obama now?

Do you really equate "the government" to the President?

From a broker, I would expect an analysis of commercial real estate supply/demand then and now, job growth then and now, financing availability then and now, and investment outlooks then and now.

While noting that Fairfax County is still doing well compared to some areas of this nation.

Warhawk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That used to be the main office/HQ for Long and
> Foster Realtors. They moved years ago to that
> monstrosity off of 28 in the Herndon/Sterling
> area.

It is a monstrosity, but it's not that far north. It's at the northwest quadrant of the Route 28/Willard Road interchange in Chantilly:

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qgf4j68jcfgn&lvl=18.836064597011504&dir=2.31533048914954&sty=u&where1=14501%20George%20Carter%20Way%2C%20Chantilly%2C%20VA%2020151-1770&q=14501%20George%20Carter%20Way%2C%20Chantilly%2C%20VA&form=LMLTCC

Interestingly enough, you can see it in various degrees of completion by varying the zoom level in Bing Maps.

Property info: http://www.cbre.com/USA/US/VA/Tysons+Corner/Property/TheEllipseatWestfields.htm?pageid=0

did long and foster consolidate their real estate or go out of business?
They used to have a Springfield office off of Old Keene Mill Rd for the LONGEST time (like decades) and I noticed about a month ago it's vacant now.

Gordo, this one?

http://www.springfieldsales.lnfre.com/default.aspx

Warhawk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A lot of times that money, plans, etc. are
> allocated well in advance - like 2 years in
> advance. The developer probably already had a
> financing deal, construction drawings, etc. and
> I'll bet it pained them to no end to follow
> through on that project.


True. A lot of times the funding has been allocated in advance. With the permits and contracts in place, the developer could have his ass handed to him/her with lawsuits unless the thing gets built. I imagine several that are still sitting empty are probably in receivership at this point.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-11.htm

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> did long and foster consolidate their real estate
> or go out of business?
> They used to have a Springfield office off of Old
> Keene Mill Rd for the LONGEST time (like decades)
> and I noticed about a month ago it's vacant now.


They have the huge fucking monstrosity in Chantilly. They've probably moved a lot of satellite offices into it to help cover the payments.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-11.htm

Commercial real estate will never recover. There's simply no need to have a big office any more. Host your email and files in the cloud, give each employee a laptop and cell phone, and have them work from home or Starbucks. Have a small office for the occasional meeting and for a few core employees.

JormanB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The City of Alexandria has one on Eisenhower Ave.
> It's been finished for 2 years and never occupied.
> Over a million sq. feet of office space and a huge
> parking lot.
>
> http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g
> eocode=&q=4600+Eisenhower+Avenue,+Alexandria,+VA&a
> q=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.452734,86.57226
> 6&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4600+Eisenhower+Ave,+Alexandri
> a,+Virginia+22304&t=h&ll=38.802816,-77.122216&spn=
> 0.002191,0.005284&z=18


This place is wierd. I may be wrong, but I think there was a different completely vacant office building on that same lot, which they tore down to build this one.

My favorite abandoned/nearly vacant office building is the tower next to Bob Evans in Springfield. It might be completely empty now, but up until a couple month ago there used be a barber shop on the 5th or 6th floor that always had an Open light on in the window. Seemed like it was the only tenant for a long time.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=springfield,+va&aq=&sll=37.230328,-95.712891&sspn=53.347204,113.818359&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Springfield,+Fairfax,+Virginia&ll=38.781345,-77.181286&spn=0.001623,0.003473&t=h&z=19

@strates - didja know there used to be an Exxon gas station under Springfield Tower? That place has been there since like the 70s. Pretty much a local landmark.

brokerhere Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Commercial Broker here. So here is the deal.
> Totally empty buildings are being held totally
> empty for 'full building users' Trouble is there
> are not that many deals in the market for full
> buildings since the Bush depression. Unlike the
> Bush I S&L debacle (not my fault its the Bush's -
> that is just the way it is) the government is not
> bailing out the commercial lenders on this one.
>
> So the commercial lenders have to hold the assets.
> Banks are not that great at leasing buildings.
> In fact the market rental rates have stayed high
> simply because commercial lenders wont write-down
> the assets and sell or lease at a loss. The
> result is buildings just stay empty for years.
>
> It is very interesting and very different than the
> early 90's when all the non-recourse loans went
> bad. Effective rental rates back then were low
> enough that the assets could just be leased and
> filled...
>
> PS that white tiered building is/was the Long and
> Foster building built around 89 I think - I put
> one of the first tenants in that bld. and toured
> it with P. Westly Foster himself.


So ..... you are proud? Why does the industry wait on tenants who want to full occupancy? Christmas for everyone....soon?
Like Cousin Eddie waiting on a Management Position. Brilliant.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q4NBaeQQys

This is exactly why I want to bang my head against the wall when these MORONS for politicians have the nerve to complain about BRAC moving into Fairfax County and CAUSING TRAFFIC PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!

That's all they talk about....the traffic.

Not one is smart enough to say, "Gee, maybe we should be grateful these jobs are staying in Fairfax and not moving to Kentucky or North Carolina.

Thousands of high paying government jobs and they complain about the traffic.

These office building will be vacant for awhile while we dig out of this hole we dug ourselves into it. Companies are downsizing, outsourcing and telecommuting.

It will be 8-10 years before we regain the ground we lost.