Arlington intends to extend ground leases for Courthouse Plaza

County wants to restructure leases on government-owned land

Published March 8, 2021 by Rich Griset

Arlington County and developer JBG Smith have entered into a letter of intent to restructure three ground leases that JBG Smith holds on government-owned land for a multiplex movie theater at 2100/2200 Clarendon Boulevard and office space at 2300 Clarendon Boulevard.

While the county owns the land, JBG Smith owns the buildings. The letter of intent provides JBG Smith the option to extend the land leases from their current expiration date in 2062 until 2119. The county leases the majority of one of the two office buildings occupying the ground lease, with the remaining office space and AMC Courthouse Plaza 8 being leased to other entities through JBG Smith.

Under the current leases, annual rent paid by JBG Smith to the county has fluctuated from $100,000 to $3.9 million. The new agreement would modify the annual lease payments to fixed rates and will include a one-time lump sum of $18 million paid by JBG upon execution of the leases. Rent would be $3.5 million per year, plus 2% annual escalations and 20-year inflation adjustments not to exceed 10%. The rent will be reduced to $2.5 million for the first three years.

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