FOX Television Duopoly Relocates from DC to Bethesda, MD
31 July 2018
Savills Studley today announced the completion of a 59,172-square-foot, 16-year lease on behalf of the local Fox affiliate. After more than 60 years, the media company will relocate operations and studio facilities for WTTG and WDCA from 5151 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Washington to 7272 Wisconsin Avenue, known as The Wilson, in Bethesda, Maryland. The new lease will commence June 2021 upon completion of the 937,000 square feet mixed-use development.
“We are thrilled to move our facilities to Montgomery County, Maryland, and into what will be a grade A complex developed by Carr Properties. We thank the State of Maryland and Montgomery County for making this possible,” FOX Vice President and General Manager Patrick Paolini said in a statement. “This will be a state-of-the-art facility that will keep us in the heart of the Washington, DC metro area and allow us to better serve our community.”
The Wilson is one of the most prominent development sites in Montgomery County. Once completed, the Carr Properties building will offer approximately 937,000 square feet of total density, allocated across a 360,000-square-foot office building with ground floor retail; two residential towers, The Elm, which will house 456 units; and a shared above- and below-grade parking facility. The Plaza in front of the Wilson will also house a new Southern entrance to the Bethesda Red Line Metro Station and the future Bethesda Purple Line Station, which is the western terminus of the Purple Line and is projected to be one of the system’s most widely used locations.
FOX was represented in negotiations by Art Greenberg, Bie Chu Lee and Kelly Givens of Savills Studley.
“With this move, FOX becomes one of the first companies to relocate from Washington, DC to Maryland in a long time,” said Greenberg. “Bethesda is one of the tightest real estate submarkets in the region. More than half of The Wilson has been committed prior to delivery and the site offers unbelievable access and visibility. We’re pleased to have helped them in this relocation.”
FOX Television Stations is one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 28 stations in 17 markets and covering over 37% of U.S. television homes. This includes seven duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Dallas; San Francisco; Washington; and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis; Phoenix; Orlando, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina.
