‘Flex-tech’ facility going up on Port Royal Road

The huge building under construction visible from the Beltway near the Braddock Road exit, is the first of two 62,000-square-foot work centers.

While the brochure for the building refers to it as a
“one-story office/warehouse,” it’s more of a “flex-tech” facility suitable for technical
work such as labs, says Edwin “Bill” Lynch, a founding partner with I-95 Business Parks Management LLC, which is developing the project.

Once it’s fully leased, construction will start on a second
62,000-square-foot building. Both buildings will be white with large windows
and 24-foot-high ceilings.

The project is on a 9-acre site that had previously been
occupied by Shenandoah’s Pride Dairy, which closed about three years ago.

The old dairy has a special connection for Lynch, who grew
up on a farm in Burke. He recalls his family selling milk to the dairy, which was originally known as Alexandria Dairy. The family sold
their dairy cows in the early 1960s but continued to raise beef cattle and
horses.

While there’s a glut of office space in Fairfax County –
many older buildings have high vacancy rates – there’s a huge need for this
kind of flex-tech project. “There really isn’t anything of this nature nearby,”
Cole says. “Port Royal Road is one of the few areas where industrial uses are
allowed in this part of the county.” 

A couple of federal government agencies and private
companies are interested in leasing space but no tenants have committed yet. Each
building could house two to six tenants, depending on how much space they want.

According to Cole, the other similar properties owned by
I-95 Business Parks – in Lorton, Woodbridge, and Quantico – are 90 to 95
percent occupied.

“Our best clients are those that have highly skilled and
educated employees – in such areas as engineering, government contracting, and
technical work,” Lynch says. The type of tenants that need this kind of
facility can’t fit into an office building and require more power. Tenants in
these buildings will have so much space they will be able to drive vehicles inside.