Shirlington Becomes Viable Non-Metro Option
Being close to Metro may be all the rage, but two companies are betting on non-Metro accessible Shirlington, an Arlington submarket along the I-395 corridor.
Velocis, a Dallas-based PE real estate manager, and Moore & Associates, a Bethesda-based sponsor, announced this week they bought Shirlington Tower, a Class-A 233k SF office building at 2900 South Quincy St.
The closest Metro stops are King Street, across the highway in Alexandria and Pentagon up 395. But the residential and retail amenities on the ground are what investors are hoping will fill up the 50% of the building that’s currently empty.
Velocis principal Mike Lewis (here with his daughters in Paris) says even though a Metro isn’t nearby, the eight-minute bus service to Pentagon station is used by Shirlington Tower tenants, who use apps to tell them when the bus is coming.
He added that the LEED Gold building is a well-located asset in the recovering Northern Virginia market, at a significant discount to replacement cost. (The company would not disclose the purchase price.)
This is the fund’s second acquisition in Northern Virginia this year, with the first being Loudoun Gateway II and III, two Class-A office buildings, in August. Mike says he’ll be in the DC area next week looking for more acquisitions. Velocis has $140M in equity and is targeting $300M for the fund, which will close next year.
Moore & Associates VP Zac Vuncannon, right, with colleagues Lloyd Moore and Vince Coviello, says the 15-year-old building’s lobby and common areas will be refreshed. Among Shirlington’s amenities are a Harris Teeter, a movie theater, an Arlington County library and a Hilton Garden Inn. The office building also includes an attached six-story, 827-space parking garage, fitness club, restaurant and salon. The I-395 corridor’s overall vacancy is at 31.4%, with 5M SF of existing inventory, according to Colliers’ Q3 report. Zac was recently hired by the firm to oversee investments in the DC region and Austin, TX.
