Clarendon Center Approved and On Schedule

Clarendon Center looks likely to accomplish a feat many other construction projects cannot these days - delivering both planned elements of a project at the same time, on time. Impressive too because the project required complicated excavation, demolition and construction work close to the subway tunnel that runs under Clarendon Blvd. Developer Saul Centers Inc. (SCI) expects both buildings, which offer a mixture of office, retail and residential, to be finished and ready for tenants come the 3rd quarter of 2010.

Construction began in summer of 2008 on the south buildings of the large mixed-use project that sit directly across from the Clarendon Metro. The south buildings topped out in late October and the six-story north office building just received an above grade building permit in late November, for 171,000 s.f. of office space and 42,000 s.f. of retail space.

Chris Sowick of Cassidy & Pinkard claims "significant interest" in the project, adding that the buildings do not necessarily require a large anchor tenant; the smaller floor plates of the 6-story north building mean a tenant could rent a space "as small as 7,800 s.f."

The south buildings offer 9 stories of office and retail space and 12 stories of residential space, which includes 244 rental units. Nothing is leased on the south building either, though Mary Beth Avedesian, the Vice President of Acquisitions & Development at SCI, said there has been a lot of interest in the project given the proximity to the metro, especially from restaurants. Avedesian indicated the group is in "various stages of negotiation," but nothing finalized. Avedesian offered that rents seem to "still be holding up" at the expected level around $50 to $70 per s.f. for retail space.

Construction for the project is by Clark Construction. The buildings were designed by Torti Gallas.

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