Fox 5 plans to move from its Washington, D.C., home to a new office in Bethesda, according to a Montgomery County Council member.
WTTG is close to signing a lease for space in the high-rise under construction at the former Apex building site at 7272 Wisconsin Ave., the Washington Business Journal reported Friday. The Fox affiliate is now about two miles south of that site in an office building at 5151 Wisconsin Ave.
Council member Nancy Floreen said the station’s possible move to Montgomery County has been “a subject of negotiation for a while,” but declined to comment on the details included in the Business Journal story.
“I’m not going to confirm anything in the story except to say that the council is enthusiastic about the move of Fox 5 to Bethesda,” she said.
Patrick Lacefield, a spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, acknowledged that Fox 5 is interested in moving to Montgomery County, but wouldn’t confirm that the news station has its eye on Bethesda in particular. He added that county officials are working with station representatives.
Carr Properties is handling redevelopment at the Apex site and is working to build side-by-side towers – one slated for housing and the other for offices – rising from a shared podium.
The Business Journal report, which quoted an anonymous source, stated that WTTG is planning to make its move in 2022 and occupy about 60,000 square feet on the sixth floor of the 290-foot tower. The station could contribute $31 million toward the development project and receive $3 million in state and county incentives and tax breaks, the Business Journal reported.
Neither Council President Roger Berliner nor a state commerce department spokeswoman would comment on the report.
Carr representatives did not return calls requesting comment. No one at Fox 5 was immediately available on Friday afternoon to comment on the move.