Reston Gateway update: Boston Properties in negotiations to lease remainder of office towers

Image Credit: Fairfax County Government

Last week, Boston Properties gave a short update on the upcoming Reston Gateway development. Also, new photos of the construction site and the progress on the two office towers.

During their Q1 2020 Earnings Call, Boston Properties reported on (and was asked about) their Reston properties. It was mentioned more than once that they are in talks to backfill the space that Leidos vacated in their move to the newly constructed 17Fifty building in Reston Town Center.

Reston Gateway will be directly adjacent to the future Reston Town Center Metro station.

As for Reston Gateway, Fannie Mae had initially signed for 846,000 square feet of the more than 1 million SF development, but exercised an option to reduce that commitment by ten percent to just 761,000. Mr. Linde, the president of Boston Properties, added that there is another interested company in talks to lease the remaining space in the building, including the space given up by Fannie Mae. 300,000 square feet of space by one tenant suggests that another company may be considering it for their headquarters, unless it is a much larger organization, such as Microsoft.

It was also mentioned during the call that the building is “way ahead” of schedule, which aligns with statements by the architects that Reston Gateway might deliver in late 2021 or early 2022, instead of the original estimated Q4 2022. The construction has continued even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and over the last month has been accelerating at a fever pace. The parking podiums are now completely built out, and construction has begun on the office floors above.

The scaffolding bridge between the two buildings marks the top of the parking podium.

The under construction buildings now tower above any of the other office buildings in the vicinity of the toll road and future Metro station. Once completed, one or both buildings will be taller than any other building in Reston or anywhere else in the vicinity. The county planners purposefully have encouraged denser development around the area’s transit centers.

Boston Properties plans to eventually develop the entire area between the Reston Town Center Metro station and its namesake. In addition to the current construction, phase one of the development is planned to include a 44-story residential tower and a hotel.