A GW-owned property on Pennsylvania Avenue landed its first tenant last week for what is to be a state-of-the-art office building in a prime location.

An international law firm with a D.C. office currently at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue signed on to the top five floors of the 11-story building in a project that will be 2112 Pennsylvania Ave., The Washington Business Journal reported last week.

The firm, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, will move into the building being developed by Skanska USA in January 2019. The building’s construction is expected to last about 30 months. Since the developers went ahead with construction last semester without any tenants planned for the new building, the designs included flexible floor plans that could accommodate different types of tenants.

Rob Ward, the executive vice president for Skanska, told The Washington Business Journal that developers can now tailor more of the construction designs to Cleary Gottlieb’s needs for the building now that they signed on to the lease. Ward did not respond to requests for comment except in a press release.

The decision to move forward with construction on the new office building before tenants were established shows a “vote of confidence” in the project, Ward said.

Mark Nelson, an administrative partner at Cleary Gottlieb’s Washington office, said in a press release that the law firm was attracted to the building’s sustainability goals and high-end quality. Representatives from Cleary Gottlieb did not return requests for comment.

“The new building is very close to our current location, ensuring a seamless transition and convenience for both our clients and our personnel,” Nelson said.

GW first partnered with Skanska in 2014, handing over the reigns to the development firm to transform two GW buildings, an existing office building and a few row homes into a state-of-the-art office building. Developers began demolition on the existing buildings last November.