Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) will move its corporate headquarters from the University City/La Jolla area to McLean, Va., nearer to Washington D.C., leaving the future of the company’s Point Loma location unclear. The relocation was made because the defense and engineering company maintains its largest concentration of staff at about 17,500 employees, said officials. SAIC executives said they also plan to relocate 20 San Diego-based corporate positions to McLean by the summer of 2010. The relocation affects mainly corporate functions and will leave much of the San Diego workforce unscathed for now. “In the long term, it may mean a reduction in owned or leased space at our Campus Point offices, which is also in keeping with SAIC’s overall plans to improve facility density and use of space,” said SAIC spokesperson Melissa Koskovich in a written statement. And with several offices spread through University City, Point Loma, Camp Pendleton, Vista and Poway, the company may move additional staff if “company leadership determines it is in the best interest of the company,” Koskovich wrote. About 4,300 employees work in the company’s San Diego offices, including approximately 900 corporate staff. The Fortune 500 company’s move will create 1,200 new jobs in the Virginia region over the next three years, said Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine during a press conference last week. SAIC was founded by J. Robert Beyster 40 years ago in La Jolla and has grown to employ about 45,000 total employees. Beyster retired as chairman of SAIC’s board of directors in 2004.