CoStar Group, a real estate marketplace and analytics company, will move its global headquarters and more than 500 employees to Rosslyn later this year and invest $20 million in the move.
“The financially strategic acquisition of this building will provide the perfect home for the more than 500 employees at our current headquarters. We’re incredibly thankful for our 14 years calling Washington, DC, home, and we will continue to be a part of this community even as we move across the river to Arlington County,” said Andy Florance, CoStar Group founder and CEO.
CoStar Group, which is on the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100, employs more than 6,200 worldwide. Its businesses include Homes.com, Apartments.com, LoopNet, and STR.
It bought 1201 Wilson Blvd., a 31-story, 552,000-square-foot office building known as Central Place Tower, according to Arlington Economic Development. It will occupy 150,000 square feet.
In announcing the acquisition, CoStar Group said it believed “that current market conditions provide an opportune time to acquire a high-quality property at a significant discount.”
“CoStar Group’s outright purchase of the building also signifies confidence in our commercial real estate market, which is key to our ongoing efforts to reduce office vacancies,” said Arlington Economic Development Director Ryan Touhill.
The move will relocate 500 existing jobs and add another 150, according to Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“We are proud that CoStar has chosen Virginia as its home,” Youngkin said in a news release.
CoStar Group plans to capitalize on nearly $7 million in tax and economic incentives, the company said. Youngkin on Tuesday approved a $1.25 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund and another $3.5 million from the Virginia Economic Development Incentive Grant to support the relocation. The governor’s office said funding and services to support CoStar Group’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
The company, which considered 25 sites in DC, Rosslyn, Crystal City, and Tysons, will be situated above the Rosslyn Metro station and across the street from the headquarters of Nestlé USA. Its employees are expected to be in the office four times a week.
As part of the deal, CoStar Group will pay Arlington County nearly $14 million for the sole use of the Observation Deck at 1201 Wilson Blvd. The county manager has proposed the money go toward Rosslyn’s Gateway Park, to allow the space to be completed nearly a decade earlier than expected.
Libby Garvey, chair of the Arlington County Board, said CoStar Group’s move reinforces Arlington’s attractiveness as a hub for global businesses. “We are thrilled to welcome CoStar Group to Rosslyn, where their presence is sure to have positive economic impacts and will help to strengthen the neighborhood — especially with the faster realization of a reconstructed Gateway Park,” she said.
CoStar Group moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to DC in 2010. At the time, it bought 1331 L St. NW and then sold it and leased it back. The company said it was the most profitable sale of DC commercial real estate from the recession. Its lease on L Street ends in 2025.
Feature image by Jessica Livoni/CoStar Group
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