4500 EAST-WEST HIGHWAY OFFICE BUILDING FINISHED, SIGNS FIRST TENANT IN BETHESDA

Carr Properties' new Class A office building at 4500 East-West Highway is now complete, including the public plaza outside, as you can see in these photos. I like the public art on the plaza a lot. 

The developer also announced its first lease, after many months of struggling in Montgomery County's abysmal office market. It's not quite the prize that Intelsat would have been, as small business-financing firm RapidAdvance is simply moving from its existing Bethesda office to the new building. It will occupy a full floor at 4500, according to the Washington Business Journal.

After county officials fumbled Intelsat's interest in being the anchor tenant at 4500, the firm instead became the latest to choose Northern Virginia, with its friendlier business climate and Tysons' direct access to highways and Dulles International Airport.

PLAZA TAKING SHAPE AT NEW CLASS A OFFICE BUILDING IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Carr Properties' 4500 East-West Highway Class A office building was designed to include a public plaza at the corner of East-West and Pearl Street. That plaza is now beginning to take shape. It could help not only as an amenity for future workers there, but also to attract a restaurant tenant to the building's ground floor.

The nearly-finished office project remains without any tenants as of this writing. I actually found an old story which revealed that one of Montgomery County's most recent fumbles in attracting a major corporation involved this building. Instelsat S.A. was scouting potential new homes for its headquarters, then located in the District off of Connecticut Avenue. According to the article, the firm  seriously considered the 4500 East-West building, but ultimately opted to go to Northern Virginia. Instelsat is now the anchor tenant in Macerich's impressive Tysons Tower, Fairfax County's first billion dollar property.

Other tenants at Tysons Tower include Deloitte Consulting, which leased 88,000 SF.

In addition to the higher cost, and less-friendly business environment of Montgomery County, traffic congestion and lack of direct access to Dulles Airport were obviously factors, as well. Intelsat's CEO, David McGlade, specifically cited "a first-class transportation system" as one of the company's must-haves in choosing a new headquarters. Tysons Tower has direct access to the Capital Beltway, the new 495 Express Lanes (which are only on the Virginia side of the Beltway), and the Tysons Corner Metro station. In the near future, the building will have direct rail access to Dulles Airport, when the Silver Line is extended there.

Access to the Bethesda Metro station is one of the major advantages 4500 East-West has going for it. But as anyone who drives in downtown Bethesda knows, traffic is a nightmare, as is trying to reach the Beltway from here during rush hour. Driving to here from Dulles Airport or vice-versa? Fuhgeddaboudit!