Coworking firm and government contracting accelerator Eastern Foundry has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and appears to have shuttered all operations, according to court records and interviews.
The company — which at one point maintained three locations, in Crystal City, Rosslyn and Fayetteville, North Carolina — closed a checking account that contained $0 on Oct. 1, 2021, according to the bankruptcy filings. According to court documents, the firm has no cash and no longer owns or leases any commercial property.
Eastern Foundry owes Arlington County $20,033 in unpaid taxes, according to bankruptcy filings, $267,872.99 to JBG Smith Properties (NYSE: JBGS), $394,902.62 to Monday Properties and $50,209.41 to Allied Telecom Group of Arlington.
Co-founder Geoff Orazem declined to comment, citing the ongoing proceedings. Efforts to reach co-founder Andrew Chang and a lawyer representing Eastern Foundry were not successful. Eastern Foundry's website is no longer active.
In 2020, the firm generated $928,913.00 in gross revenue, per the Chapter 7 filing.
Launched in 2014 at 2011 Crystal Drive in Crystal City, which it eventually grew to 27,000 square feet, Eastern Foundry provided technology and contracting startups with the tools to do business with the federal government, including coworking space. In 2016, it leased 19,000 square feet at 1100 Wilson Blvd. in Rosslyn that Arlington County heavily subsidized.
With those locations proving successful, Eastern Foundry plotted an expansion outside the Beltway, including opening its first out-of-state location in Fayetteville, just south of Fort Bragg, in 2019 in partnership with the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corp. (FCEDC).
But further expansion did not materialize as the pandemic arrived in 2020.
JBG Smith confirmed Eastern Foundry is no longer a tenant at 2011 Crystal Drive but declined to comment further. It is unclear exactly when the office closed.
Monday Properties declined to comment on the status of the space at 1100 Wilson, but Google lists Eastern Foundry in Rosslyn as permanently closed.
Eastern Foundry left Fayetteville by the end of 2020, according to the FCEDC, but the space remains operational without it. In fact, it is “thriving” and has since expanded, said Robert Van Geons, president and CEO of the FCEDC. It's up to around 20 clients from 5-10 in late 2020, and the organization has leased additional space to accommodate the growing demand.
Under its partnership with the economic development organization, Eastern Foundry set up shop in space leased by the FCEDC, the group said, which explains why there are no Fayetteville-tied creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings. In exchange for Eastern Foundry managing, recruiting and providing programming, FCEDC would receive a portion of each month's revenue.
In the fall of 2020, Van Geons said Eastern Foundry decided to pull out of the partnership due to the effects of the pandemic. The two groups worked together on a transition through the end of that year.
“It was a very positive relationship and if Covid hadn’t happened, we would have loved to have seen where it could have gone,” Van Goens said. "They were very open with us and worked with us through the transition."
Eastern Foundry retained Ashvin Pandurangi of Vivona Pandurangi PLC as its bankruptcy lawyer, according to court records. The firm paid the $5,000 legal services charge in advance, per the bankruptcy filings.
