To gather our report of the largest building sales, land sales and commercial leases in the state's major metropolitan markets, Virginia Business contacted the state's 22 largest commercial realty firms and asked them for their top deals. The results proved to be an apples and oranges mix. Some firms disclosed pieces of information differently from others. Their reports do provide a snapshot of what's happening statewide, however.

The deals had to be signed between Oct. 1, 1998, and Oct. 1, 1999. That means some whoppers, such as The Patent and Trademark Office's potential $1.2 billion-dollar lease in Alexandria, aren't included.

And there are some deals that defy geographic cubbyholing. For example, Cambridge Realty handled the deal by American Industrial Properties REIT, AIP/Greenbrier G.P. Inc. and AIP/Battlefield G.P. Inc., which joined together to purchase the $40 million A&A Portfolio of seven buildings in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. The buildings encompass a combined 560,832 square feet.

There are obviously many big deals that don't make this list. We went for a statewide report by listing the top few deals in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and the Richmond region. Otherwise, Northern Virginia deals would have dominated the list. Even with this approach, some big deals didn't make the cut. For example, Best Buy stores leased 45,100 square feet of retail space in Chesapeake's Greenbrier MarketCenter, a retail facility that includes tenants such as Target, Barnes & Noble, Harris Teeter, SteinMart and Bed Bath and Beyond. The $9.1 million deal just missed the cut in that region. Same for the $8.2 million lease negotiated by Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate for Winn Dixie's space at Little Creek Square in Norfolk.