The Center for Naval Analyses plans to move 600 workers into Clarendon when space in a new office complex is ready, the company says.
The non-profit research center is the first announced tenant in the as-yet-unbuilt, 300,000 square foot office-building at 3001 Washington Blvd., a project approved by the county board on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The developer, Penzance Management, LLC, will start construction in three months and plans to complete the building in 2014.
“We are very excited,” said Constance Custer, CNA’s vice president for communications and public affairs.
The 70-year-old organization, a nonprofit military and green energy research and analysis firm, employs about 750 people around the world, she said. Some researchers work in the field with the military, but most work in their current offices in Alexandria.
Public transportation and subway accessibility were a big draw in the decision to move, said Custer. CNA will also be closer to its clients in the area and at the Pentagon, she said.
“The CNA researches and analyzes data that is at the intersection of green technology and national security,” said Custer.
Recently the group researched small nuclear generators to power bases for the United States military in the Middle East, she said. Seventy to 80 percent of the organization’s business is with various branches of the Pentagon, according to Custer.
According to the CNA website, the company also studies the effects of climate change on global and state stability, reduced fossil fuel use for the Navy, and improving health services for veterans.
The organization will move out of its current building, at 4825 Mark Center Drive in Alexandria.
“In the early ‘80s we were in Arlington. We had a brief moment of insanity and we moved to Alexandria,” said Chief Operating Officer Katherine McGrady. “Now we just want to move home.”
web:
http://www.cna.org/centers/cna
