Commercial Real Estate Services in the DMV

Levaru provides commercial real estate services across the DMV from our headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Tenant representation, landlord representation, investment sales, and market research, covering Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland. What sets the advisory work apart is where it starts: we also maintain and manage commercial buildings every day. When we walk a property with you, we are reading the rooftop units, the electrical room, and the operating budget at the same time we are reading the rent roll.

That operating background changes the advice. A rental rate only means something next to the cost of running the space. A purchase price only means something next to the capital the building actually needs over the next ten years. We built our real estate practice on top of a facility and property management practice for exactly that reason.

Four service lines, one view of the building

Landlord representation

If you own commercial property with vacancy, we position the listing, build the marketing package, qualify prospects, and negotiate the lease economics on your behalf. Every listing we take gets professional photography, a measured floor plan, and a browser-based 3D walkthrough that prospects can tour from anywhere. Read more on our landlord representation page.

Tenant representation

If you lease space, we sit on your side of the table only. We define the requirement, survey the market, run tours, issue RFPs to shortlisted buildings, and negotiate the LOI and lease. In most deals the landlord funds our fee through the standard commission split, so you get an advocate without a direct cost. Details are on our tenant representation page.

Investment sales

For owners selling and investors buying, we handle broker opinions of value, underwriting support, data room preparation, buyer qualification, and negotiation through the purchase and sale agreement to closing. Because we operate buildings, our underwriting starts with real expense line items: service contracts, preventive maintenance, utilities, and deferred capital, not placeholder assumptions. We provide licensed commercial real estate services in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland. Read more on our investment sales page.

Market research

Submarket surveys, competitive sets, lease and sale comps, and demand analysis. We use research two ways: as a standalone deliverable when you need to brief a board or an investment committee, and as the foundation under every listing price and every tenant negotiation we run. Details are on our market research page.

Commercial real estate advice from people who run buildings

Most brokerage advice stops at the lease line. Ours does not, because the same firm handles facility management and property management for commercial buildings across the region.

Here is what that looks like in practice. Before you sign a lease, we can tell you whether the building’s HVAC plant will actually deliver after-hours cooling at a reasonable cost, because we maintain systems like it every week. Before you buy, we can walk the mechanical spaces and give you a grounded view of near-term capital exposure, not just a summary of the offering memorandum. Before you set an asking rate, we can tell you what the operating expense pass-throughs will really look like, because we build those budgets for a living.

A broker who has never carried a building’s maintenance budget is guessing at half the numbers in your deal. An operator reads the building first and prices it second.

This also cuts the other way, honestly. If a space is wrong for you, the operating facts usually say so early, and we would rather lose a quick commission than put you in a building that fights you for ten years. Advisory only works if you have permission to hear no.

What is the difference between tenant representation and landlord representation?

Tenant representation means the broker works exclusively for the space user: defining the requirement, surveying the market, and negotiating the best lease terms for the tenant, typically paid through the landlord’s commission. Landlord representation means the broker works for the property owner: pricing the vacancy, marketing it, qualifying prospects, and negotiating lease economics that protect the owner’s return.

The distinction matters because the two sides want opposite things from the same document. The tenant wants lower effective rent, larger improvement allowances, and flexibility. The owner wants stronger credit, longer term, and fewer landlord obligations. A broker cannot honestly maximize both at once in the same deal, which is why we disclose our role in every transaction and, when a conflict could exist, put it in writing before anyone tours a space.

Levaru does both types of work, but never both sides of the same lease without written disclosure and consent. If we list a building and one of our tenant clients wants it, you will know exactly who we represent and how we are paid before terms are discussed.

Remote 3D tours change how fast space leases

Every building we represent is documented with browser-based 3D walkthroughs of each floor, tied to an interactive floor plan. For leasing, that changes the tempo of a deal in two specific ways.

First, prospects self-qualify before anyone drives anywhere. A shareable walkthrough link lets a tenant’s whole team tour the space in a browser, on their own schedule, and eliminate buildings that do not fit. The physical tours that follow are shorter lists of serious contenders, which is better for the owner’s leasing calendar and the tenant’s time.

Second, remote decision-makers stop being the bottleneck. In the DMV, the person signing the lease is often in another city: a national real estate director, an out-of-state owner, a government contractor’s home office. Instead of waiting weeks for a flight, they open the link, walk the floor, and check the layout against the test fit the same day.

A listing a prospect can walk through in a browser at 9 p.m. is a listing that stays in the running. Space that can only be seen by appointment competes only during business hours.

The same documentation keeps working after the lease signs. The walkthrough becomes the visual record of delivered condition, which shortens punch list arguments and, years later, makeready planning.

Where we work: DMV submarkets

We cover Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland, with daily presence in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Tysons, the District, Bethesda, Rockville, and Baltimore. A few of the submarkets we track closely:

• DC CBD and East End. The region’s densest office core, where trophy and commodity buildings compete on very different terms and lease structure matters as much as rate.
• NoMa and Navy Yard. Newer-vintage districts shaped by transit and mixed-use development, with a different tenant profile than the traditional core.
• Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. Arlington’s Metro-anchored office spine, a frequent landing spot for tenants weighing the District against Virginia economics.
• Tysons. Northern Virginia’s largest concentration of commercial space, mid-transformation from car-oriented office park to walkable urban center.
• I-270 corridor. Maryland’s technology and life-science spine through Bethesda, Rockville, and Gaithersburg, where lab and flex requirements behave differently from office deals.
• Baltimore and the Inner Harbor. A distinct market with its own pricing logic, ownership base, and tenant mix, which we treat on its own terms rather than as an extension of the DC market.

We do not quote vacancy or rent statistics on a static page, because they age badly. When you engage us, you get a current survey built for your specific requirement, with comps we can stand behind in a negotiation.

How an engagement runs

Whether you are leasing 4,000 square feet or selling a building, the shape of the work is consistent. You should know what happens next at every step.

1. Define the requirement

A working session, not a form. Headcount and layout for tenants; hold period, basis, and objectives for owners. We put the requirement in writing so every later decision has a reference point.

2. Survey and shortlist

We build the market survey with current availabilities and comps, then cut it to a shortlist worth touring. You get the reasoning, not just the list.

3. Tour

Physical tours for the finalists, 3D walkthrough links for everything else and for every stakeholder who cannot travel. Tour books document each option so comparisons stay factual.

4. Negotiate

RFPs to shortlisted landlords or offers from qualified buyers, then LOI negotiation on the terms that actually move money: rate, term, escalations, allowances, free rent, options. We model each counter as effective rent or net proceeds so you compare deals on one number.

5. Paper and close

Lease review support alongside your attorney, test fits and improvement pricing where construction is involved, purchase and sale agreements and due diligence on sales. We track every open item to signature or closing.

6. Transition

Move coordination for tenants; onboarding handoff to property management for owners. Because those teams are in-house, the person who negotiated your deal does not disappear when it signs.

Start with a conversation

Tell us the requirement, the building, or the problem. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right firm for it, and what we would do first. Request a proposal or call +1 (703) 646-8300, and a broker who works your submarket will follow up directly.