This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet

Suburban office investor Bridge Investment Group executed multiple deals at the end of last year to remake the Willow Oaks Corporate Center, including a big new lease and flipping of one of the buildings at the Fairfax, Virginia, office park.

After purchasing the three-building, Class-A office campus in December, Bridge sold Willow Oaks III to Cleveland-based Boyd Watterson Asset Management in a $63M deal the same month.

Bridge’s commercial brokerage subsidiary also signed Inova Health System to a 48K SF deal for medical office space at the Willow Oaks complex. Bridge's two remaining buildings total 398K SF, and the landlord said in a press release they are 64% leased. 

Bridge also plans to reinvest $10M in the two Willow Oaks buildings, adding 15K SF of “high-tech spec suites” and an amenity center called the Tree House with an outdoor terrace.

Bridge Investment Group CEO Jeff Shaw said in an interview with Bisnow in December that Fairfax County's talent war was a key driver behind his firm's decision to acquire the office park for $106M.

“I think that in the last several years, even before Covid, we were seeing a strong interest in companies chasing talent out into the suburbs,” Shaw said.

SALES

An affordable housing complex owned by a landlord who paid over $1M to settle a lawsuit over poor conditions at two of his properties has changed hands in a $39.5M deal.

Concord Communities, the affordable housing arm of Lowe Enterprises, acquired the 379-unit Stanton Glenn apartment complex in Barry Farm this week in a deal brokered by The Zupancic Group at Marcus & Millichap.

Concord plans to start an $18M renovation of the 30 four-story buildings that make up the complex, which was built in 1967. The top-to-bottom renovations will include flooring, cabinets, appliances and plumbing, lighting and high-efficiency HVAC systems. Concord is also considering installing solar panels, according to a release.

EagleBank provided financing for the deal. The seller, Joe Kisha, is president of Castle Management Corp. The sale is the largest in Southeast Washington since 2020, according to the Zupancic Group.

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A 288K SF West End office building at 2300 N St. NW sold to an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management in a $153M deal, Bisnow reported Monday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust provided a $119.8M loan to finance the deal. Deed records list Lincoln Property Co. as the seller on the deal, but LPC managed the asset on behalf of the Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois.

The building was constructed in 1986. LPC will remain on to manage and lease the 82% leased property. Tenants include the Aspen Institute, Everfi, law firm Jackson & Campbell and advocacy group Plan International.

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Amazon Data Services Inc. purchased three Loudoun County office buildings in December, potentially signaling a conversion of the spaces for new data center capacity. Amazon purchased the 252K SF office space site for $21M from seller SIP/CREF Manekin Plaza LLC.  

LEASES

PREIT partnered with Merlin Entertainments, a visitor attractions operator, to bring a 32K SF Lego Discovery Center to Springfield Town Center, the group announced in a release Friday. The mall operator said the experiential space will open in 2023. Springfield Town Center is a redeveloped shopping mall in Fairfax County that took the place of the former Springfield Mall and opened in 2014 with 1.3M SF of space.   

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Aldi inked a 22K SF lease in Fort Washington, Maryland, anchoring the Tantallon Shopping Center alongside tenants AutoZone and Adventist Medical Group. Joe Farina, principal of Divaris Real Estate’s Washington, D.C. office, represented landlord Tinabe LLC in the deal.

CONSTRUCTION MILESTONES

Mayor Muriel Bowser and Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio will join Cafritz Foundation leaders who are breaking ground on Phase 2 of the Art Place at Fort Totten on Feb. 12. The mixed-use development is slated to include 294 apartments and 27K SF of retail anchored by a 24K SF Aldi. 

Cafritz recently had to reconfigure the second phase of the development after experiential arts space Meow Wolf backed out of plans. The private foundation still plans to include a live performance venue in Phase 2.

Phase 1 of the 15-acre development included 520 units when it opened in 2017, and it has since signed tenants Onelife Fitness and Phenix Salon Suites. 

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The Courtyard by Marriott, Washington D.C. Dupont Circle is open for business. The 143-room hotel at 1733 N St. NW is the fifth Courtyard by Marriott in D.C., and will feature fast-casual restaurant The Bistro. The location features a 24/7 gym and The Crate, a grab-and-go, contactless food kiosk in the lobby, which Marriott's release said is making its regional debut.

PERSONNEL

Jamie Georgas, a 17-year CBRE veteran, has been tapped to lead the brokerage’s Mid-Atlantic Advisory & Transaction Services for its occupier business. Georgas will be promoted to executive managing director after spending the last two years as the leader of its Americas broker operating platform leader, according to a press release. Georgas will spearhead CBRE’s growth strategy in the region.

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Neighborhood Development Co. announced a new director on its leadership team this week. Mehul Vora, formerly the co-founder and chief financial officer of Seattle-based NexGen Housing Partners, brings experience as an investor, entrepreneur and investment banker, according to NDC. Vora joins NDC at a time when the firm is embarking on its largest project yet at St. Elizabeths East and as CEO and founder Adrian Washington is broadening his horizons by founding a new construction startup.

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Perkins&Will has named Renee Rodriguez as director of operations and associate principal to lead project teams through design and construction in her new role. A 17-year veteran of the architecture firm, Rodriguez will be joining the leadership team to focus on Living Design, which the firm said in a press release is “creating high performing places that promote human and ecological well-being at every level."

CORRECTION, FEB. 10, 10:30 A.M. ET: A previous version of this article misstated the square footage of the Aldi planned for Art Place at Fort Totten. The story has been updated.