Is There A BRAC Effect Yet?

These days, when just about everyone in the business world is slimming down, it can be hard to discern exactly what effect the Base Relocation and Consolidation process will have on development in the region, at least for the near term.

Check out this report from the real estate information firm CoStar, itself a corporate resident of our fair town:

CoStar says the big government contractor SAIC recently completed a lease for 171,000 square feet in Franklin Center at the Columbia Gateway office park, where it will consolidate several local offices.

The deal is the largest office lease in at least the past six months in the Baltimore market, although like other leases that have been signed recently, it is probably not a signal that leasing markets are turning around, brokers say.

The lease will leave a hefty amount of vacant space in its wake that is expected to be difficult to fill. SAIC currently has five offices in Columbia, according to its web site, many of which are in the same building park, known as Columbia Gateway, as Franklin Center.