Corporate Office Properties Trust executed leases with a subsidiary of an investment-grade Fortune 500 company to deliver two shell buildings on land the Company recently purchased in Ashburn, VA (Ashburn Crossing). The two buildings will aggregate 315,000 square feet. The company's total investment in Ashburn Crossing is projected to be $42 million, which includes the remaining land on which the Company can build one additional building.

Construction on the first 200,000 square foot building (COPT DC-8) will commence early in 2013, in anticipation of a fourth quarter 2013 lease start date. The Company anticipates breaking ground on the second 115,000 square foot building (COPT DC-9) no later than mid-2014, with a lease start date approximately nine months later. The leases were signed at the end of 2012 and brought the Company's development leasing volume to 1.2 million square feet for the year.