Savills Represents Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Development Site Sale

WASHINGTON (March 23, 2023) – Savills announced today that the firm represented long-time client, the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), in the sale of a development site adjacent to IDA's former headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Located at 4880 Mark Center Drive, the four-acre site was sold to an affiliate of Stewart Investment Partners and is zoned for future commercial, residential, hospitality or senior living and contains 450,000-square-feet of development capacity.

Savills Senior Managing Director Parker Lange, Vice Chairman Art Greenberg, and Executive Managing Director Vernon Knarr advised IDA on the land sale, navigating difficult macroeconomic dynamics in a challenging capital markets environment. The Savills team negotiated a sale that was not contingent on zoning entitlements, resulting in an efficient and timely transaction for IDA. Lindsay Stroud, senior managing director on the Savills Capital Markets team helped secure acquisition financing for the buyer.

“We understood that 4880 Mark Center Drive has great potential to be a prime development site, and further that under the current capital market conditions, we needed to be strategic and identify the perfect opportunity to get the sale across the finish line. It was a pleasure representing a long-time partner in IDA, and we are proud to have successfully executed on their behalf,” said Lange.

“The sale of the development site, adjacent to our old headquarters, was the last step in a process that started in 2012, when IDA decided that a Metro proximate location near the Pentagon, would enhance its ability to attract and retain the best talent as well as provide better service to its customers at the Pentagon”, said Luke Knapp’s IDA’s Senior Manager, Corporate Real Estate.

Savills has assisted IDA since the mid 1990’s with many facets of their real estate portfolio. Savills helped IDA identify and, in 2016, acquire a site and in 2019, structured a new, 373,000-square-foot build-to-suit headquarters building in Alexandria at the Potomac Yards Metro Station. In 2020, Savills negotiated the lease (with an option to purchase) of IDA’s then current 269,000 square foot headquarters at 4850 Mark Center Drive to the City of Alexandria.