High-End Condos for the Luzon Building

Clients are provided with chairs, desks, phones, high-speed Internet connections and receptionists. Equipment such as photocopiers, fax machines and printers is available, and the company will help set up catering and accounting services. It can save those who rent the space 25 to 50 percent of the costs of setting up their own offices, according to Angie O'Grady, president and chief operating officer.

One of the new locations is at 1701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., where Carr leases 35,000 square feet to 12 tenants. Tenants have the use of a common room with a flat-screen TV, hip-looking red chairs, a blue couch and a full kitchen.

"It's flexible, short-term space compared with conventional long-term space," Carr said. "People who work at home need to get out not just because the dog is barking but they need human interaction and the availability of service."

CarrAmerica, which until its sale was a publicly traded real estate investment trust, once was in the executive-suite business but sold that division in 2000.

Carr said his new venture isn't exempt from the cycles of the commercial real estate business, so if vacancy rates rise for traditional office space his business could falter.

Another Hotel Near Dulles

Starwood Hotels & Resorts will open one of its Aloft Hotels in Chantilly in 2008. Aloft is the urban offshoot of the W Hotel brand that features exposed beams and a structural steel design.

The hotel, which will have 131 rooms, will be at the intersection of Route 28 and Highway 50, near Washington Dulles International Airport. It will be one of the first Aloft Hotels.

Starwood officials said they chose the Chantilly location because the new hotel will stand out from "bland" ones nearby.

Closings

· The Anacostia Waterfront Corp. selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP to create a design for Poplar Point, a 110-acre park owned by the federal government. The land is expected to be transferred to the District this fall. Poplar Point, on the east side of the Anacostia River across from the Washington Navy Yard, is expected to have public parks and memorials and could be the site of a soccer stadium proposed for the D.C. United.

The Anacostia Waterfront group will hold a public hearing on the Poplar Point development on Oct. 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, 2616 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE.

· Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers will handle leasing of 77 K Street NE, an 11-story, 322,000-square-foot office building scheduled for completion in 2008. The developers are Brookfield Properties Corp. and ING Clarion.

Dana Hedgpeth covers commercial real estate and economic development. Her e-mail ishedgpethd@washpost.com.