A Multimillion Dollar Virginia Company is Turning Empty Office Buildings Into Farms

An Arlington-based company wants to take a new approach to the office conversion trend with a plan to turn unused office buildings into vertical farms. 

As Nate Berg explains in Fast Company, Area 2 Farms currently operates one farm in an Arlington building and has plans to expand with a new infusion of capital. “Backed by $9 million in new funding from Seven Seven Six, Slow Ventures, 468 Capital, and Animo, Area 2 Farms is planning to build 10 new farms across the U.S. in 2026.” 

Founder Oren Falkowitz says he wants to build indoor farms within 10 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, bringing fresh food closer to people and cutting down on food transportation emissions. “We move the farm, not the food,” Falkowitz says. Today, their first farm produces 200 acres-worth of produce in 3,000 square feet, and customers from a roughly two-mile radius visit weekly to pick up farm share boxes.

The model would use existing underutilized structures, cutting down on the costs usually require to build a new greenhouse in a city. “Area 2 Farms is one alternative, and perhaps a second chance for buildings that might have otherwise gone obsolete.”