ATA Moves to New Headquarters
By Sarah Godfrey, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the July 16 print edition of Transport Topics.
After nearly 23 years in its Alexandria, Va., headquarters, American Trucking Associations relocated last week to a new building in Arlington, Va.
“ATA is a major trade association in Washington, and we need a headquarters location and facility that reflects the stature of ATA,” said Bill Graves, president of ATA.
“In the new building, we will have easier access to Capitol Hill and the heart of the city of Washington. We will have a state-of-the-art facility with improved communications equipment, all to better serve our members,” Graves said.
The Alexandria location overlooked the Washington Beltway in an area that was largely undeveloped when ATA moved into its headquarters in 1984. However, the area recently has undergone intensive development, creating severe congestion.
ATA is now leasing space in the Regent, a new 12-story, 248,000-square-foot office tower in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, the fifth site the trucking federation has occupied since its incorporation in 1933. Both Alexandria and Arlington are suburbs of Washington.
Graves previously told the Washington Business Journal that ATA’s decision to move from an older structure with a rich history into a newer building should be thought of in trucking terms: “You buy a new truck and you use it for its expected, reasonable lifetime, but there does come a point in time that you want to have the new model.”
The Regent lies on one of the last parcels available for large-scale development in the Ballston area and is near a shopping mall, two universities, the Washington Metro subway and bus systems and other amenities.
After ATA was created in 1933, it used three buildings in Washington as its headquarters for eight years.
In 1941, the organization moved within Washington to 1424 16th St., NW. After spending 19 years there, it relocated to 1616 P St., N.W.
ATA bought that property in 1959 and moved into the building a year later. It also purchased five other buildings in the vicinity, and sold them in 1983.
The following year, ATA moved to 2200 Mill Road in Alexandria, Va., where it was housed until July 3.
Graves added that with the association’s move to a new building completed, ATA will focus on renovating its Capitol Hill office, where its lobbying arm is based.
“The renovation and expansion of the Capitol Hill building will make that incredible asset even more valuable to our lobbying efforts,” Graves said.
ATA owns Transport Topics, which moved into the new Arlington building along with the association.
