More Flex Industrial Space Pursued At Ashburn Crossing To Meet Business Demand
ASHBURN, VA — If you spot new construction activity at the vacant lot across from Loudoun Water and the Washington Commanders practice facility, it isn’t another data center going up. Instead, it is more flex R&D (research and development) industrial space for community-serving businesses to use.
Developer St. John Properties broke ground on the next phase of the Ashburn Crossing R&D industrial space at the Gloucester Parkway and Loudoun County Parkway intersection in Ashburn. There is already 400,000 square feet of flex industrial space developed at Ashburn Crossing and is is largely filled up. That warranted more buildings to be constructed in the new phase.
St. John Properties is a developer working in 12 states, with an estimated 1 million square feet developed a year. Its first building in Loudoun County was constructed 21 years ago, and now it has 23 developments with 170 tenants in Loudoun County. Another property it has been working on is the Arcola Center with flex R&D and office space in the Dulles South area.
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“We’re known for flex R&D product. That’s a lot of what we’ve built in Loudoun County,” said Matt Holbrook, regional partner for Virginia and Central Maryland at St. John Properties.
Ashburn Crossing is on part of the 240 acres St. John Properties first bought in 2003. At that time, Gloucester Parkway didn’t exist, and Loudoun County Parkway was just a gravel road, according to Holbrook. St. John Properties ended up selling 123 acres to Erickson Senior Living in 2006 to develop Ashby Ponds, and 1,700 senior living residents now live there.
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St. John Properties sold another 17 acres in 2014 for an Ashby Ponds expansion but bought it back from Erickson Senior Living eight years later. That 17 acres is now being developed as the latest phase of flex R&D space, which St. John Properties says there is demand for in Loudoun County.
“There aren’t a lot of people building a flex R&D buildings these days in Loudoun County,” said Holbrook. “It’s kind of an unusual thing. The buildings that we build are very, very quickly leased and filled up, so they do really well.”
Holbrook said more R&D space isn’t being built because “competing forces” make land scarce, gesturing to the data center across the street.
Colleen Kardasz, assistant director at the Loudoun Department of Economic Development, said the R&D space allows the county to diversify its economy. Diversifying revenue has been something county leaders have been seeking as the data center tax base has grown significantly.
“We have this wonderful opportunity in Loudoun to work with some of the biggest businesses in the world, to work with our development partners, and to work with our homegrown small businesses to all exist and thrive here,” said Kardasz at the groundbreaking. “Having flex space like what St. John builds in Loudoun County is critical to that. It allows us to house an amazing group of businesses and to give them opportunities to grow.”
At the groundbreaking, Supervisor Mike Turner (D-Ashburn) said he expects dramatic shifts in Loudoun County’s business environment over the next five years. He pointed to the State Corporation Commission’s Wednesday hearing on the Aspen to Golden transmission lines, which made him less optimistic that undergrounding the electric lines could be pursued. Turner called that the “opening salvo” of the changing business and real estate market.
But for St. John Properties’ flex industrial development, Turner says it has been a “no brainer.” The supervisor praised the low vacancy rate of 3 percent in the 11 flex industrial buildings St. John has developed so far.
“I am very excited to see yet more flex and industrial space, because it gives us flexibility in the industrial sector,” Turner said in groundbreaking remarks. “It gives us an opportunity to move in a whole bunch of directions, and I think we’re going to have to all be nimble.”
Tony Howard, president and CEO of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, gave an example of how the flex R&D space benefits the community. Howard said an HVAC company that services his home is a tenant. Another nearby tenant is Freedom Mobility Solutions, which helps older adults age in place and live independently.
“The places that St. John Properties builds are the places where businesses that service our community, service our homes, locate,” said Howard.
Howard says allowing an emerging business to incubate in the community makes it much more likely it will remain there.
The new phase of St. John Properties’ flex industrial space will include a 95,000-square-foot building with completion in early 2026. The second building will be 99,000 square feet and deliver at a later time. Suites for business tenants will start at a minimum of 6,000 square feet.
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