BerkleyNet to relocate headquarters to Prince William County’s Innovation Park

Published January 14, 2016 by Paula C. Squires

BerkleyNet has signed a 15-year lease to occupy a build-to-suit headquarters building at Innovation Park, a university-anchored research and technology park in Prince William County.

BerkleyNet, currently located in Woodbridge, is a member company of W. R. Berkley Corp. that specializes in workers compensation insurance delivered through the Internet.

According to Colliers International, which brokered the transaction, BerkleyNet selected the location at 9301 Innovation Drive to keep its roots in Prince William County and to provide employees the benefit of a reverse commute.

Another benefit is the location’s proximity to George Mason University’s Science and Technology campus and its amenities.
Buchanan Partners owns the land where the 70,000-square-foot building will go. Berkley Net will occupy 49,000 square feet.

The relocation will enable BerkleyNet to more than double its space, accommodating the company’s future growth. It expects to move its 125 employees to the new site in spring 2017

“We are excited to have selected a site that allows us to keep our roots within Prince William County,” Jim Gilbert, president and CEO of BerkleyNet, said in a statement. “As our business continues to grow, our new headquarters will allow for much improved collaboration and efficiency across our team.”

Keith Summers, a vice president with Colliers International at Tysons who represented BerkleyNet, said “BerkleyNet’s decision to locate here will likely drive renewed interest in Prince William’s largest business park.”

Colliers’ Senior Managing Director Howard Kaplowitz worked with Summers locally to provide site selection, programming, developer comparison analysis, and lease transaction services.

The new office will be within walking distance of the Hylton Performing Arts Center, Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center, the Mason Center for Team and Organizational Learning (the EDGE) and the Mason Enterprise Center.

BerkleyNet will join other Innovation Park tenants that include the FBI Northern Virginia Resident Agency, American Type Culture Collection, Mediatech, Powerloft Data Center and the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.

“The addition of BerkleyNet, which is a technology-based insurance provider, will no doubt enhance the existing ecosystem of science and technology companies already located in Innovation Park,” said Jeff Kaczmarek, executive director, Prince William County Department of Economic Development.

Kaczmarek noted in a statement that the announcement comes on the heels of other recent developments within the park, including the addition of new restaurants, the conversion of the historic Thomasson Barn into the county’s first destination brewery and beer garden, and the potential location of a commuter rail stop by the Virginia Railway Express. “…All bode well for the future of Innovation Park and its evolution into a virtual town center,” said Kaczmarek.