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HITT Contracting has broken ground on a six-story headquarters that will bring more than 900 employees and a major construction research hub to Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center near the West Falls Church Metro station.

The 270,000-square-foot building, under development since 2019, will anchor a $100 million transformation of the Idylwood campus. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025, with the headquarters expected to open in early 2027.

HITT CEO Kim Roy joined Rep. Don Beyer and Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman for the Jan. 23, 2025, groundbreaking ceremony.

“This building is so much more than an office,” Roy said. “It’s a beacon of what’s possible when curiosity, ingenuity and determination create a new vision.”

A central feature will be the 40,000-square-foot Coalition for Smart Construction, a joint initiative between HITT and Virginia Tech. Its advanced research facilities will bring academia and the construction industry together to address labor shortages, sustainability and emerging technology.

Virginia Tech Dean of Engineering Julie Ross said the partnership is intended to develop new technologies while training future construction leaders.

“We’re not just building a space together, we’re building an ecosystem to drive systemic and sustainable change to be successful,” Ross said. She added that collaboration among academia, government and industry will be critical to identifying major problems and developing the technology and talent needed to solve them.

Founded 88 years ago as a small family-owned Arlington County business, HITT has grown into a national construction services company with nearly 1,900 employees across the United States. Its current headquarters on Fairview Park Drive near Interstate 495 is about a 10-minute drive from the new site.

The planned headquarters will include a wellness center, café, conference facilities and a one-acre outdoor terrace. A 100,000-square-foot rooftop solar canopy will help the building pursue net-zero energy and carbon goals.

The 7.41-acre site is also part of a broader wave of redevelopment around Falls Church in Fairfax County and the city. In 2021, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors revised the comprehensive plan for the Metro station area to permit mixed-use construction on its parking lots.

Plans for the Northern Virginia Center property also include a 13-story apartment building with 440 units, as much as 18,000 square feet of retail space and 55,000 square feet of urban parks. The project is intended to expand transit-oriented development while supporting Fairfax County’s climate goals.

Bierman said the investment demonstrates the county’s capacity to encourage innovation and sustainable growth.

“They are trying to figure out how we build things more efficiently, how we run them more efficiently, how we are innovating every single day, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is,” Bierman said.

Beyer said the headquarters would strengthen the longstanding relationship between HITT and Virginia Tech while adding to Northern Virginia’s reputation as a center for technology and education. He also credited Virginia Tech with helping the region attract Amazon’s HQ2.

“This can be yet another feather in the cap of Virginia Tech, and another reason why companies around the world want to come to Northern Virginia to locate and to grow our database, which is good for everybody,” Beyer said.