One of the largest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley is crossing the country to open its first office in Washington, D.C.
Andreessen Horowitz is subleasing 12,000 square feet from FedEx at 800 17th Street, the Washington Business Journal reported. Financial terms of the sublease in the property known as PNC Place were not disclosed, though it’s expected to run through the end of FedEx’s lease in 2029.
a16z is expected to move into its D.C. digs, which are just a stone’s throw from the White House, by the end of the quarter. Newmark’s Mike Shuler represented the venture capital firm in the sublease negotiations, while CBRE’s Jhon Pacheco represented FedEx.
Beyond Silicon Valley, a16z has offices in several major markets in the United States, including New York, Miami and San Francisco. But this is the first venture into the nation’s capital for the firm, which boasts $42 billion in assets under management.
The firm’s D.C. debut comes after its reported interest in opportunities to back technology companies that could work with the federal government or Department of Defense. The firm last year launched the American Dynamism plan to invest in space, defense, robotics and manufacturing firms; $600 million of the $7.2 billion fund that closed last month was allocated for the initiative.
Last month, a16z led a $61 million funding round for Cape, an Arlington, Virginia-based telecommunications startup that bills itself as a privacy-centric mobile cellular provider.
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a16z typically backs early-stage companies, particularly in the technology industry. Airbnb, Instacart and Adam Neumann’s Flow are among the company’s past benefactors. The firm itself embraced technology in the pandemic’s aftermath, essentially moving its headquarters to the cloud.
A sublease doesn’t do much for D.C.’s office vacancy rate, which stood at an all-time high of 19.4 percent at the end of the first quarter, according to Colliers. Net absorption in the first quarter was negative as tenants gave back 424,000 square feet, according to JLL.