Patent Office breaks ground on new headquarters

The Patent and Trademark Office broke ground Wednesday on the agency's long-awaited and fiercely debated new headquarters complex. In June, PTO awarded a 20-year, $1.3 billion lease for the five-building, 2-million-square-foot complex near the King Street Metro Station in Alexandria, Va., to LCOR Inc. of Berwyn, Pa. "On a day many thought might never come, I am especially proud that we have reached this major milestone in our agency's history. As a performance-based organization, this new state-of-the art headquarters facility complements our mission in a multitude of ways, and provides our highly skilled workforce with a quality of work life necessary to attract and retain the very best," said PTO Commissioner Q. Todd Dickinson. PTO's planned relocation to the new office complex hasn't been smooth. For two years, the agency has been fending off attempts by its current landlord, the Charles E. Smith Cos. of Arlington, Va., to thwart the move. Last June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the latest in a series of lawsuits filed by Smith Cos. The firm, as well as several Alexandria residents, had charged PTO with failing to follow government regulations in assessing the building project's impact on traffic congestion. A 1999 government-funded study estimated PTO would save up to $72 million over 20 years by moving out of the Smith buildings into new facilities built specifically for the agency. The agency's current campus, located in Arlington Va.'s Crystal City, no longer meets government building regulations, and some of its 18 offices are separated by more than a mile. GSA and PTO will oversee the development of the project, and the first building will be ready for occupancy in late 2003. The whole complex is expected to be completed by 2004, and will house more than 7,000 PTO employees.