L-3 leases 75,000 sq. ft. at GATE

L-3 Communications’ Command & Control Systems and Software unit will be moving approximately 400 employees into a 75,000 sq. ft. building on the Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) next year.

The three story, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building on Guardian Drive would be leased from St. John Properties. It is part of the Government and Technology Enterprise (GATE) project, a 413-acre office park within the perimeter of APG. The project is being developed in anticipation of the movement of several thousand government and defense contractor jobs coming to APG from federal Base Realignment and Closure actions approved by Congress in 2005.

The command & control systems and software unit is headquartered in Marlton, NJ. It has more than 3,400 employees helping customers with systems and software engineering and integration, software development, field support and logistics services.

Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications employs more than 66,000 people worldwide. The firm, which reported 2008 sales of $14.9 billion, is a major contractor in aircraft modernization and maintenance, government services, and command, control, communications, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

St. Johns Properties, Inc., took over the GATE project from Rockville based Opus East LLC in June. The U.S. Army assigned St. Johns Properties the Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) agreement under which the technology and research and development business park is being development. Under the EUL, the installation receives in kind compensation for repair and maintenance operations as lease payments.

Total build out of the GATE project is expected take more than 20 years and involve 2 million square feet of space. St. John Properties is constructing five office buildings totaling more than 285,000 sq. ft.

Founded in 1971 as MIE Properties, St. John Properties owns and has developed more than 14 million sq. ft. of warehouse, office, retail and research and development/flex space in Maryland, Colorado, Louisiana, Virginia and Wisconsin.