Increased federal spending on cybersecurity could boost demand for commercial real estate in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area, according to a new report by CBRE. The FY 2017 omnibus spending bill that was signed May 5 increases spending on cybersecurity by $183 million from FY 2016 to $1.8 billion. The CBRE report also identifies the Washington, D.C. region as one of the top recipients of cybersecurity venture capital in the U.S., which totaled $3.5 billion in 2016 and $3.9 billion in 2015. Many of the firms specializing in cybersecurity are based in northern Virginia, including ManTech and LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, all of whom have have recently signed leases for office space.
“Increased federal spending on cybersecurity points to a potential uptick in activity for the industry, which could lead to more space demand in a market with a high concentration of cybersecurity firms,” says Wei Xie, CBRE’s Research Manager for the Greater Washington, D.C. area. “As home to the largest cybersecurity workforce in the U.S., the federal government, and many of its private defense and IT contractors, the Baltimore-Washington corridor stands to benefit from this.”
