Center for Innovative Technology campus sells for $47.35M

Sale proceeds will go to Virginia Research Investment Fund for technology-based economic development

Published May 14, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Former Center for Innovative Technology building in Herndon. Photo courtesy Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) office building complex in Herndon has sold for $47.35 million, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday.

The Virginia Department of General Services (DGS) sold the property Thursday to affiliates of Chicago-based Origami Capital Partners LLC and Timberline Real Estate Partners in a transaction that closed Thursday. Located at 2214 Rock Hill Road, the 149,000-square foot building sits on 26 acres located approximately 3 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport. The complex housed the CIT, the Northern Virginia Technology Council and private technology firms.

The proceeds from the property sale will go to the Virginia Research Investment Fund to be used toward the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA). A new authority established during the 2020 General Assembly session, it which will be focused on technology-based economic development, supporting research, development and commercialization, as well as investment and seed-stage funding to help entrepreneurs launch and grow technology companies.

“This is an exciting opportunity to enhance Virginia’s position as a regional and national technology leader,” Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement.

Origami plans for the property to complement adjacent property The Hub — formerly the Dulles World Center — which Origami co-purchased in 2016. The Hub is located at the intersection of the Dulles Toll Road and the Route 28 Technology Corridor, adjacent to the Innovation Center Metro station, which is between Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

“This event represents a significant milestone toward the goal of delivering to Northern Virginia a development that will entice and excite major corporate tenants,” Jeff Young, Origami managing partner, said in a statement. “We know companies will embrace the project and resolve to focus on delivering a development to the residents of Northern Virginia they will celebrate.”

“I am glad to see movement on the sale, because the CIT site and adjacent properties, combined with the strong tech company presence in that area, the transit access afforded by the Silver Line and the proximity to Dulles Airport, make this a desirable candidate for something like an innovation campus or district,” said Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

During the 2020 General Assembly session, Northam supported legislation that would establish VIPA for research, development and commercialization, investment and seed funding for technology companies.

The General Assembly declared the property surplus in 2016, directing DGS (which manages the state’s real estate portfolio) to sell it. DGS and its contracted real estate broker, Virginia Beach-based real estate company Divaris Real Estate, marketed the CIT property. DGS and Divaris selected the purchaser from 12 proposals received from 10 potential buyters.

“The sale of this property in an area of Virginia where property development continues at a robust pace provided the commonwealth an opportunity to receive the most favorable outcome from an open competitive sale process,” DGS Director Joe Damico said in a statement.