Preferred Offices to expand regional footprint this fall

Preferred Offices, a Washington-based company that leases temporary office space, will expand its reach in the region with three new locations this fall.

The expansion will increase the company’s local footprint by 75 percent with the addition of 242 new offices in Bethesda, Alexandria and the District.

The company, which is an affiliate of CarrAmerica, will have a total of 561 offices and more than 160,000 square feet of space once the new locations are open. Preferred made the decision to expand in the Washington area because of the high demand for office space, said Angie O’Grady, president and chief operating officer.

"We’ve seen continued demand in other locations," O’Grady said, including in Maryland, where Preferred will open its first location.

Office vacancies are just above 8 percent, well below the 11 percent national average, and office rents are some of the highest in the country, at just under $35 per square foot, according to figures from the Alexandria-based commercial real estate research firm Delta Associates.

Preferred Offices is one of only a few companies in the area that specialize in temporary office space. Companies such as Preferred primarily lease space to start-up firms transitioning from home offices to more permanent space and contractors on long-term assignments away from their home office.

"The office space is set up so that someone could walk in this morning and go to work," O’Grady said.

The company is also looking to expand to other markets across the U.S., O’Grady said, including New York City.

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Angie OGrady

Cooxist

Executive Leadership