The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will renew only two-thirds of its lease in Alexandria's Carlyle District in 2024 when the contract is up for renewal, according to the General Services Administration.
The USPTO has about 2.4 million square feet of office space, and it will reduce that to 1.6 million square feet, according to the Washington Business Journal.
The USPTO had moved from Crystal City in Arlington to Alexandria in 2005.
The USPTO is one of the most remote-friendly workplaces in the federal government, and the coronavirus pandemic pushed even more of its staff to work from home. Like millions of companies and organizations across the United States, the government is reducing its office space nationwide.
The shift to working from home more has already affected local businesses, such as a dry cleaner that closed in the Carlyle neighborhood.
City of Alexandria officials are seeking a new federal tenant or another use for the coming empty office space.
