History was made in early 2001 when local Internet company America Online bought Time Warner, the world's largest traditional media company, near the end of the dot-com bubble days. After the bubble burst, Northern Virginia office vacancy rates went from 2 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2002. After 2002, vacancy rates fell below 10 percent due to increased defense spending after the September 11 attacks, and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars causing the government's continued and increasing reliance on private defense contractors.