Fannie Mae (FNMA)

[cooler_heads]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2015/01/26/fannie-mae-to-move-to-15th-st-replacing-washington-post-headquarters/

At the corner of 15th and L streets downtown, The Washington Post is on its way out and Fannie Mae is on its way in.

Fannie Mae officials announced Monday that they had signed a lease to move its headquarters into a new building Carr Properties plans to build to replace the newspaper’s current headquarters.

The move is expected to allow Fannie to consolidate its headquarters employees into 700,000 square feet, down about 29 percent from the nearly 1 million square feet in a series of buildings along Wisconsin Avenue across from Sidwell Friends High School.

Fannie spokesman Maureen Davenport said the 15th Street location offered a “great value.” Fannie nearly decided on law firm space at 555 12th Street, before switching gears and choosing the Carr property.

“The lease provides attractive financial terms and gives the company the flexibility to adapt to changes to future workplace needs,” she said in a statement. “Our new location also will ensure business resiliency. After extensive negotiations, the company determined that 1150 15th Street is the best option to meet Fannie Mae’s needs. We look forward to moving into our new home in the next few years.”

Fannie officials said there was no firm timetable for the move. The Washington Post plans to vacate the existing building in early 2016, a move that must occur before demolition can begin on the Post’s headquarters and Carr can begin construction on the Fannie building. Carr has not released its plans publicly.

Fannie plans to sell its building along Wisconsin Avenue but has not begun the sales sales process.