News
WELLS' BIG DC SPLASH
March 1, 2011
| You think Parkway Properties' $345/SF purchase price for 3344 Peachtree is a whopper? Wait till you hear what Norcross-based Wells Real Estate paid for an office complex in DC. |
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| Wells REIT II purchased the 680k SF Market Square for $615M—or a stunning $905/SF. It's a huge number, even for the heated DC commercial real estate market, where it's a record. Oliver Carr of Carr Properties (a panelist at this morning's Bisnow Second Annual Washington Real Estate Summit at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner mobbed by an audience of 1,300), says DC office has returned to 2007 ?in terms of froth.? Beacon Capital is set to sell thetwo building portfolio at 701 and 801 Pennsylvania Ave—just north of the National Mall—with a closing on March 10. Wells, for its part, expects to use a $500M line of credit from JP Morgan Chase, plus a bridge loan in the works after already fronting $75M for the property. On office fundamentals in the nation's capital, even Boston Properties' Ray Ritchey says the market is almost ?too good.? We'll ask Leo Wells about his investment later today and report back tomorrow on his views, plus other comments about Atlanta from DC. |
