Convene begins national expansion with conference center in Tysons Corner

Published July 28, 2013 by Paula C. Squires

Convene, the nation’s fastest growing conference center network, is beginning a national expansion by developing its first Washington, D.C., metropolitan location in Tysons Corner.

Convene worked with Lerner Enterprises, one of the region’s large, private real estate developers, to lease 15,000 square feet at 1800 Tysons Boulevard in the Corporate Office Centre at Tysons II.

The company plans to transform the former site of Monterrey Fish Grotto restaurant into a conference and event center.  The retail location, just off the main building lobby, will offer a variety of meeting rooms to host conferences, training programs and events.

“Convene’s best-in-class meeting space … will enhance the tenant experience within The Corporate Office Centre at Tysons II and offers a valued and much needed amenity that will serve to benefit our entire local business community,”   Mark D. Lerner, principal of Lerner Enterprises, said in a statement.

PwC, one of Convene’s clients in New York, is the signature tenant of the 320,000- square-foot, 13-story, Tysons office building.  “Our clients requested that we expand our network to include conference centers in Washington, D.C., and also suggested that we should expand into facilities management and catering,” said Christopher Kelly, principal and co-founder of Convene.

Convene at Tysons Corner will be the company’s fifth conference center since its founding in 2009 and its first development outside of New York

Fox Architect will design the new center, which is scheduled to open in November.  Josh Peyton of Avison Young represented Convene in the transaction while Lerner was represented by Brian Tucker of Cushman & Wakefield.