St. John Gains Approval for Northern Virginia Project

Arcola Center site. Image courtesy of St. John Properties

St. John Properties Inc. has obtained final approval from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors for a zoning change to accommodate the development of Arcola Center, a flex/R&D/office project in Dulles, Va. The business community, which will span 34 acres, will ultimately offer 340,000 to 450,000 square feet of space in as many as 10 single-story and two-story buildings roughly 30 miles outside downtown Washington, D.C.

St. John has owned the land, located at the intersection of Loudoun County Parkway and Dulles West Boulevard, since the summer of 2020, and has been pursuing a zoning change for the acreage for almost as long.

“For decades, this property was zoned to be a destination retail center but remained undeveloped because of a lack of tenant demand. With the pandemic, retail demand in the area eroded even further. Our recent rezoning brings new life to the property by creating workplaces, services, and amenities close to existing residential areas,” Matt Holbrook, regional partner with St. John Properties, told Commercial Property Executive. St. John isn’t the only one keen on the endeavor. The Loudoun County Planning Commission unanimously approved the project in advance of the board’s ruling.

The board’s decision changes the land’s zoning status from PD-CC-RC, or Regional Retail Center, to PD-IP, or Planned Development-Industrial Park, allowing St. John to commence work on Arcola immediately. The company has already begun site construction on the project, moving forward with grading activities and the installation of utility and road infrastructure. The work paves the way for the initial segment of Arcola Center.

Just for starters

The phase of Arcola Center will be a speculative development encompassing four flex/R&D/office structures totaling 130,000 square feet. The buildings, which will be designed to meet LEED certification, will range in size from approximately 22,200 square feet to 45,100 square feet. The facilities will also be built with flexible interior floor sizes to accommodate a range of tenant types, including professional services, tech firms, light manufacturing, community uses, logistics companies and others.

“In Loudoun County, there has been a growing supply/demand challenge for commercial space users,” Holbrook noted. “The supply of commercial buildings has been dropping as data centers have consumed all developable land and have repurposed existing buildings for data center uses. Meanwhile, demand has been growing with the boom in Loudoun County’s population.”

St. John plans to commence construction of the four buildings in early spring 2022 and expects to complete them as soon as fall/winter 2022. The commercial real estate company, which boasts a Northern Virginia portfolio that includes several other business parks, is not concerned about moving full speed ahead on a spec project with nary a tenant in place.  

“Our sustained leasing velocity, combined with the strength of the Northern Virginia economy, provides us with tremendous confidence to proceed with this next phase of our speculative development strategy,” Holbrook said. “Each of our Northern Virginia business communities are performing extremely well and operating close to full capacity.”