Turnover at the Top of Area Business Groups

By Neil Irwin and Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 19, 2005

Top officials at five Washington business organizations have resigned in recent months, marking a major turnover in groups that advocate development and market the city, and the region, to the rest of the world.

The two most recent departure announcements came last week. Thomas M. Mobley Jr. said he will step down next month as chief executive of the Washington Convention Center Authority, which oversees the District's 2.3 million-

square-foot convention center. And Michael Stevens said he will leave his job next month as chief executive of the Washington DC Economic Partnership, which markets the city to businesses and developers.

"There's always some danger and risk of a lack of continuity with so many jobs turning over at once," said Barbara Lang, president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. "There may be a void for a little period of time. But I have faith that the infrastructure of each of these organizations is strong enough that they'll be able to move forward easily when replacements are found."

Among departures announced earlier was Robert A. Peck's resignation as of year-end as president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, a regional chamber of commerce. Peck said last week that he has accepted a job as senior vice president of real estate brokerage Staubach Co., where he will help government agencies and other organizations shape their real estate plans.

During the summer, Thomas G. Morr resigned as head of the Greater Washington Initiative, which coordinates marketing of the region. And Andrew Altman announced in October his resignation as chief executive of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., a quasi-public entity created to oversee development on long-impoverished banks of the Anacostia River.

Each executive is leaving under a different set of circumstances, and replacements have already been hired for Morr and Altman. Tim Priest, a longtime staffer at the Greater Washington Initiative, is now its new executive director, and local developer Adrian G. Washington is the new top executive of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp.

The changes come as key issues affecting business in the city are in flux. Mobley's successor at the convention center authority will have to grapple with a dispute over building a large hotel across from the center; negotiations between the city and developer Kingdon Gould III to acquire land for the hotel have bogged down. Mobley is becoming a senior vice president of convention industry consulting company Global Spectrum LP.

Planning and finances for a new baseball stadium continue to be a major part of the District's civic debate. And Stevens's successor at the DC Economic Partnership will work with a new mayor who may or may not be as popular among employers considering locating in the District as Anthony A. Williams. Stevens plans to remain in the District and do development work, though he said he has not lined up a job yet.

Some of those leaving the top jobs at business organizations had been there for relatively short periods -- Mobley for two years, Altman for less than one. Peck had been on the job for four years, Stevens for five, and Morr for six.

Some past leaders of business groups served much longer terms. Peck's predecessor at the Board of Trade, John Tydings, held the job for 32 years. Kenneth R. Sparks was the top staffer of the Federal City Council, an influential group of businesspeople, for 30 years ending in 2004.

The higher rate of turnover at business organizations, some business leaders say, reflects the same trends affecting companies. Fewer people spend an entire career with one employer, whether a bank or a chamber of commerce.

"People like me with more than 30 years at a single company are fewer and farther between than we might once have been," said William Couper, president of Bank of America in the Washington region and chairman of the Greater Washington Initiative. "The same is true in these organizations."

Land Purchase

Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, a Rockville-based real estate company, paid $24 million for about five acres along the Dulles Toll Road in Herndon for office development. The land is part of a 63-acre project, called Dulles Station, that will include office, residential and housing space.

Washington Real Estate said it plans two office buildings for the land at Horsepen and Sunrise Valley roads. The first building will be 180,000 square feet. Construction is to start in January even though no tenant has signed up for the space, with completion expected in May 2007.

"We feel confident that the visibility of the site will help us in leasing it," said Sara Grootwassink, the company's chief financial officer. Timing for construction of the second building depends on how fast the first one leases, she said.

Closings

Corporate Office Properties Trust of Columbia said it signed a lease for a new 125,000-square-foot building at its National Business Park in Annapolis Junction.

LaSalle Hotel Properties of Bethesda said it paid $90.3 million to acquire the leasehold interest in the Hilton San Diego Resort, a 357-room property in San Diego.

CarrAmerica Realty Corp. of the District said it signed three leases, totaling almost 70,000 square feet, at International Square, located at 18th and I streets NW.

Dana Hedgpeth writes about commercial real estate and economic development. Her email is hedgpethd@washpost.com.