Merritt Properties to break ground on $10 million speculative flex industrial building

Published August 7, 2014 by Paula C. Squires

Merritt Properties will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a $10 million, speculative 72,900-square-foot flex industrial building that it’s building in Ashburn on Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 11:30 a.m.

The Baltimore-based company, with nearly 16 million square feet of commercial real estate developments, plans to build at 20700 Loudoun County Parkway, across from One Loudoun, a mixed-use project that is becoming Loudoun’s downtown. It expects the project to be complete by January 2015.

The location was key to Merritt's decision to go with a speculative industrial project. There's been a huge growth of data centers in the Ashburn area. As they continue to absorb large blocks of light industrial space in a tight market, Merritt anticipates this trend will help create demand. Currently, the vacany rate for light industrial is about 12 percent, according to the company. Over the past four years, the average absorption rate for this sector in this area has been 437,000 square feet per year. 

The location across from Loudoun One also offers prospective tenants proximity to 700,000 square feet of new retail amenities and residential development.

The ceremony and a luncheon will be held at the site for Loudoun County government officials, local elected representatives and Merritt executives.