As a result of Arlington County’s continuing efforts to promote and provide resources for businesses looking to move or expand operations in Arlington, the commercial vacancy rate in the County continues to improve.
The vacancy rate as of the second quarter of 2019 stands at 16.6%, down nearly 5% from its historic high of 21% in 2015. Arlington Economic Development also announced it successfully closed 26 deals in FY 2019, representing 7.2 million square feet of office space and 43,000 jobs.
“The momentum of Arlington’s economy is the strongest it’s ever been,” said Alex Iams, Interim Director of Arlington Economic Development. “This year, we welcomed major nonprofits like the March of Dimes and continued to attract technology companies like Yext. We were successful in retaining our key corporate and government headquarters, including iTG, the DEA and PBS. And our BizLaunch small business assistance program has counseled hundreds of small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to do business in Arlington. Our business community is diverse, robust and innovative, and the best is yet to come.”
While the deal is factored into the FY19 metrics, this lower vacancy rate does not yet reflect any square footage occupied as part of the much-anticipated Amazon HQ2, as that space itself has not yet been occupied. But the buzz isn’t hurting. The Amazon headquarters will continue to help to decrease Arlington’s office vacancy rate in the coming years, creating even more commercial tax revenue for the County. Each percentage of the office vacancy rate accounts for $3.4 million in commercial tax revenue for the County.