How does Sony Field at RFK Stadium sound?
The company has emerged as a contender in the on-again, off-again negotiations for naming rights to the Washington Nationals' temporary home.
The media giant is one of two companies that sources close to the discussions have named in connection with the sponsorship deal. Other speculation lies with ProFunds Advisors, a Bethesda investment company that was close to signing a deal with the team last year.
Spokesmen for both companies declined to comment.
D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission General Counsel Claude Bailey would not identify the company the city is negotiating with but says it is a nationally recognized name.
An offer by one of the companies is expected by April 21. The deal would involve a two-year agreement to rename RFK as well as in-stadium advertising.
Precedent suggests a deal is still far from reality. Before negotiations with ProFunds fell through last summer, a deal fell apart between the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission and the National Guard. [Josh Drobnyk]
... Count Tishman Speyer among the growing legion of crystal ball-gazers in Fairfax County, where spec construction is surging.
Tishman's D.C. division has unveiled plans to build a total of 430,000 square feet of speculative office space in the county -- at a time when vacancies are tightening and jobs continue to flow into the region.
Among Tishman's projects is a six-story, 184,000-square-foot building that should deliver in May 2007 at the Woodland Park complex in Herndon facing the Dulles Toll Road. It joins more than 2 million square feet of spec projects that developers have announced in recent weeks for Fairfax County.
Tishman owns other parcels at Woodland Park and could build an additional 1.7 million square feet there if the market cooperates, says Jim Evans, regional managing director of Tishman's D.C./Northern Virginia division.
"There's been limited new development out there in the past five years, and it's pushing vacancies down to single digits," he says. "We can take advantage of that."
Tishman will also build a pair of five-story, 123,400-square-foot spec buildings at the Westfields Corporate Center in Chantilly, just off of Route 28. Those should be ready in May 2007. [Joe Coombs]
... Fairfax County is going for the gold. Team Fairfax 2013, a group of local businesses, is preparing a bid to bring in the 2013 World Police & Fire Games. Organizers expect 15,000 competitors and twice as many friends and family to attend.
Translation: $50 to $60 million for local hotels, restaurants and businesses.
The Westfields Marriott has already signed on to be the official hotel.
Most of the 65 events would take place in Fairfax, with track and field, swimming and badminton on George Mason University's campus and rifle and pistol competitions near Quantico, Va. Motorcross is slated for Wheeling, W. Va., and Team Fairfax is in talks with D.C. officials to secure RFK Stadium or the planned baseball stadium to hold a 35,000-strong crowd for opening ceremonies.
The nonprofit group received $25,000 from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last year for its efforts.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly and Supervisor Mike Frey are on Team Fairfax's board, along with U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, U.S. Sen. George Allen, former Attorney General Ed Meese, GMU President Alan Merten and Fairfax's fire and police chiefs and sheriff.
Other members include Unisys Global public sector President Greg Baroni, EDS U.S. government Vice President Jim Duffey, LMI General Counsel Manik Rath and Gilman Group Vice President David Miller.
Team Fairfax is raising $400,000 to help secure venues for all events, pay consultants to prepare an application and host a visiting site-selection committee this summer. [Ben Hammer]
... String Bean Software has just shipped to Redmond, Wash.
Microsoft swooped in and acquired the Montgomery Village company's intellectual property last month for an undisclosed amount.
String Bean's software enables small businesses to connect applications that run on a server to data stored on a Windows-based computer tower. This gives the servers more room to process information rather than store it.
String Bean's three-person development team moved to Microsoft's Redmond headquarters, with founder Thieu Le bringing up the rear with a move at the end of March.
Chief Executive Mickey McIntire came onboard about a year ago to raise venture capital and began talking with Microsoft and potential investors six months later.
"I've only been here a year, but it's felt like five," he says.
The lone remaining employee, McIntire is shutting the company down and will return to consulting. [Ben Hammer]
... MedImmune's tumor-fighting drug will head to Phase III clinical trials late this year and is slated for federal approval by summer 2008.
Analysts predict that the drug, called Abegrin, will generate annual revenue of at least $100 million by 2009 and eventually command sales of $500 million or more.
Abegrin would also give Gaithersburg-based MedImmune another marketed product to go along with the four it currently sells.
A Phase III trial for Abegrin would test the drug on patients with melanoma, a form of skin cancer with limited options for effective treatment, says Dirk Reitsma, MedImmune's vice president of clinical development, oncology.
MedImmune researchers say previous studies indicate the drug's mechanism of action may involve both direct and indirect effects on a tumor's ability to grow or spread. [Neil Adler]