Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 38: AOL's loss is... well, our loss, too

Remember back in the bronze age of the Internet, when in order to read your favorite "web-log" you had to use a loud, screechy modem to try to connect to AOL, only you never could because the line was always busy? Well, as AOL's fortunes have faded, its giant office park near Dulles in Loudoun County has gotten a lot emptier, making it easier to get through the checkout lines at the Wegman's across the street. Now Rayethon is consolidating its Reston, Herndon and Falls Church operations into all that empty space, creating lots of empty space closer to home. As glass-half-full kinds of folks, we like to see this as "more options for the awesome new RA headquarters," but that's just us.

AOL has signed a 10-year agreement with Raytheon, a large government contractor specializing in defense and homeland security, to lease three office buildings and a portion of a fourth, on the east side of the tech company's Dulles campus.

Keith Little, a Raytheon spokesman, told me this morning that the company will consolidate its Northern Virginia operations, which are currently located in Falls Church, Reston and Herndon, and will move more than 1,500 employees to the Dulles campus in spring 2010.

AOL also plans to consolidate its remaining employees ("Bob," the guy who checks the blinking lights on the modem to make sure it's still working, and "Fred," who's in charge of business development, long-term strategy, content development, IT, revenue and advertising, as well as making sure the recycle bins are emptied every Friday), most likely into one very crowded cubicle.