The Virginia Department of General Services (DGS) recently sold the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) campus to affiliates of Origami Capital Partners LLC and Timberline Real Estate Partners. The Herndon office space changed hands for $47.35 million in a transaction that closed last week.
The CIT building, 2214 Rock Hill Road, Herndon, Va.
The property at 2214 Rock Hill Road includes a 149,000-square-foot, Class A office building, which sits on a 26-acre site on the border of Loudoun and Fairfax counties. It’s conveniently located about three miles from the Washington Dulles International Airport in the Dulles tech corridor, and had previously been pitched as a possible choice for Amazon HQ2. Until now, it housed the CIT, the Northern Virginia Technology Council and several private tech firms.
In 2016, the General Assembly declared the CIT campus a surplus and directed DGS to sell it. Divaris Real Estate was in charge of marketing the property. Proceeds from the sale will go to the Virginia Research Investment Fund and will help fund the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA). Established during the 2020 General Assembly session, VIPA aims to drive research, economic development and investment into the local tech industry.
“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.
Origami’s new investment will complement The Hub, an adjacent property formerly known as the Dulles World Center, which it has co-owned since 2016. The CIT campus is located between The Hub and the Innovation Center Metro station.
“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 about the transaction. “We know companies will embrace the project and resolve to focus on delivering a development to the residents of Northern Virginia [that] they will celebrate.”
