WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tower Companies (towercompanies.com) and The Lenkin Company (lenkin.com) announced today that Philips Electronics North America (philips.com/newscenter) has signed a 10-year, 6,629 RSF lease at 1050 K Street, (1050kstreet.com), a 136,000 SF U.S. Green Building Council LEED® Gold certified commercial and retail office building. The 11-story jewel-box design by Hickok Cole incorporates the natural elements of air, water, earth and light with features such as a sky garden, with exquisite views of the City, a fitness center and private art galleries.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091022/DC96998 )

Philips is a diversified Health and Well-being Company and a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products such as flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare.

Philips is committed to reducing its environmental footprint in all aspects of its business: in the products, manufacturing, and procurement, as well as in the communities where the company acts and in the working practices of its employees.

The Philips deal compliments the high caliber tenant roster that includes Knoll, Shell Oil, Glaxo Smith Kline, Baker Daniels, and The Shaw Group. They are expected to move-in early 2010.

Trip Howell and Amy Bowser of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Philips Electronics, while Randell C. Harrell, Executive Vice President, Brokerage Services; CB Richard Ellis represented the owners.

About 1050 K Street

1050 K Street, which is conveniently located near public transportation and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, was previously a paved parking lot which was replaced with a building capable of retaining its own storm water and that of its site while using the storm water for irrigation of the street planters and the green roof. The collected storm water is distributed on the site by means of a bio-retention system. The building features the latest green technology, efficient water use, fresh indoor air, 100% wind power, and maximized use of daylight. The building reduces tenants' carbon footprint, is 26% more energy efficient than ASHRAE 90.1 standards, saves 2 million gallons of water yearly, removes 85% of airborne pollutants, and replaces 100% of the air every 51 minutes. The design incorporates a heat recovery wheel, which captures embodied energy in the exhaust air, which would normally be wasted, and allows it to be used to pre-treat the incoming supply air. The skin of the building contains a blue glass with high shading co-efficient that gives the building a unique character and differentiates itself from the other transparent glass buildings in the area. The glazed curtainwall and hi-tech glass system assures thermal comfort. Over 67% of the building's materials are sourced locally.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 118,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of $38 billion in 2008, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. Visit: philips.com/newscenter.

About The Tower Companies

The Tower Companies (towercompanies.com) is a three-generation, award winning, family-owned real estate development company founded in 1947 and headquartered in Rockville, MD. Ranked #16 on EPA's 100% Green Power Purchasers List, The Tower Companies is EPA-certified carbon-neutral and a member of EPA's Climate Leaders and Energy Star programs.

Tower has developed 4.5 million square feet of office buildings, office parks, 1,400 apartments, regional malls, residential communities, lifestyle centers, and hotels within the DC area. Of this total, one million square feet are Green or sustainable projects, and another 2.5 million square feet are in the planning stages. They are the area's leading regional builder of USGBC LEED projects including: 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard (toweroaks.com), the first LEED Platinum-certified multi-tenant commercial building in the DC area, and the largest commercial application of Fortune-Creating(sm) architecture (fortunecreatingbuildings.com) design principals in the world. Other award-winning projects include: The Tower Building (towerbuilding.com), an ENERGY STAR and LEED Silver building, named 2003 Green Office Building of the Year by the Apartment and Office Building Association (AOBA); Millennium Building, (1909kstreet.com) the only and first commercial multi-tenant building in DC to get LEED EB-certified and the first green office building in Washington, DC; Blair Towns, (blairtowns.com), nationally recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council as America's first LEED-certified multi-family rental housing community in the United States. In 2009, Tower began one of the largest LEED renovations in the U.S., The Blairs, and 1,400 apartment units on a 27-acre live-work-play complex in Maryland.

About The Lenkin Company

Founded in the 1930's, The Lenkin Company (lenkin.com) is a full service management and construction firm that has developed and built over 4.5 million square feet of commercial properties and approximately 2,200 apartment units in the Greater Washington Metropolitan area. 1050 K Street is their first USGBC LEED® Gold certified construction.

    Contact:  Elizabeth Oliver-Farrow
              202.494.1977/Direct

SOURCE The Tower Companies