Return to Virginia Business - April 2004

The winners:
- Philip Morris Headquarters
- Harrisonburg Crossing
- Short Pump Town Center

Virginia Business
April 2004

For many commercial real estate companies, business picked up in 2003. Corporate expansions and relocations, a burst of retail activity and, in some markets, speculative building of warehouse space, produced levels of activity not seen during the previous two years.

With the economy growing again, projects are going up across the state. In our fourth annual look at the most significant commercial real estate projects, Virginia Business profiles the top deals of 2003. Once again, we teamed with the Virginia chapter of Certified Commercial Investment Members. It put together a panel of seven judges, which evaluated 18 nominations. This year's field was competitive, with projects ranging from a Fortune 500 corporate relocation to shopping centers, historic makeovers and a new Wall Street-style trading floor for Dominion Energy Clearinghouse.

In the end, the judges selected three deals that required skill, creativity, and that provided an economic benefit or other major improvement to their communities. “This year's deals had more of a national flair with some major national names in both a corporate relocation and the shopping centers,” says judge B. K. Allen, managing partner of B.K. Allen Real Estate in Reston. “It was a matter of picking the best of the best. We tried to pick the ones that meant the most to the community as a whole.”

— The Editors

Return to Virginia Business - April 2004