Award of Excellence
Best Real Estate Transaction Tenant Lease Over 25,001SF

Executive Summary

Fox News 5 - WTTG signed a 59,172 SF, 16-year lease with a developer in Montgomery County making them the anchor tenant in The Wilson development. After more than 60 years, the media company will relocate operations and studio facilities for WTTG and WDCA from 5151 Wisconsin Ave NW in Washington, D.C. to 7272 Wisconsin Avenue, in Bethesda, Maryland. The new lease will commence June 2021 upon completion of the 937,000 SF mixed-use development. With this move, FOX becomes one of the first major companies to relocate from Washington, D.C. to Maryland in a very long time. Bethesda is one of the most difficult submarkets for new leasing transactions, specifically ones that entail relocating a customer from Washington, D.C. to Bethesda.

The Wilson is one of the most prominent development sites in Montgomery County. Once completed, the building will offer approximately 937,000 SF of total density, allocated across a 360,000 SF office building with ground floor retail; two residential towers, The Elm, which will house 456 units; and a shared above and below-grade parking facility. The Plaza in front of The Wilson will also house a new Southern entrance to the Bethesda Red Line Metro Station and the future Bethesda Purple Line Station, which is the western terminus of the Purple Line and is projected to be one of the system’s most widely used locations.

To successfully sign a lease at The Wilson with FOX Television Stations, one of the nation’s largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, the Developer accommodated their need for approximately 6,000 SF of studio space with 20 feet of clear space. This entailed obtaining zoning approvals from Montgomery Country, obtaining additional approvals from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) due to the site being in the Zone of Influence (ZOI), and construction document revisions.

The Developer worked with Fox News to ensure the building experience for television guests and special events met their needs in the new space.

The negotiations were extensive and were a team effort by the Developer’s in-house leasing and development teams.