This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
A new 161-unit project from MRP Realty, Kruger Real Estate and May Riegler sitting two blocks from Nationals Park has begun leasing with a nontraditional rental model.
The development team is partnering with Placemakr, formerly WhyHotel, to offer fully furnished apartments for short- and long-term stays along with hospitality style amenities at the 41 L St. SE project, branded as Coda on Half.
Placemakr will manage all units in the building. In addition to luxury residential services, the property will also feature perks like on-site auto detailing, linen and towel service, pet grooming and walking, and curated events.
The 128K SF property, designed by SK&I, also features more than 4K SF of retail.
The building represents the first partnership for Placemakr's Hospitality Living business line, in which the company comes on as a building manager to operate a property with a hotel-style offering that includes short-term stays.
The company has previously taken chunks of buildings during their lease-up phase and rented them out as pop-up hotels. It partnered with property owners on assets worth $400M last year alone, including pop-up hotels in the Southwest and Union Market neighborhoods.
LEASES
The General Services Administration signed a lease for the Department of Justice’s antitrust and civil divisions that will reduce their footprint by more than 30%. The DOJ will occupy 331K SF at 555 Fourth St. NW on a 20-year lease, the GSA confirmed to Bisnow. The DOJ’s current lease for 477K SF at 450 Fifth St. NW expires in 2025, per the GSA. The new building is owned by a family office and is managed and leased by J Street Cos. The GSA was represented by Savills’ Mett Miller, Julie Rayfield and Todd Valentine.
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Vienna-based e-commerce parcel carrier LaserShip has signed on to fully lease a Chantilly warehouse space. The 105K SF building, named Stonecroft Industrial Center, is owned by Matan Cos. and is located at 14850 Thompson Road. Brad Benna, a member of Matan’s leasing & acquisitions team, represented the landlord in the deal. LaserShip, which merged with OnTrac last year to create a national network, was represented by Scott Rabin of Edge.
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Nonprofit FHI 360 has signed a lease to move from Adams Morgan to a downtown office building after its former home was sold in April. The health-focused international nonprofit’s current home is 1825 Connecticut Ave. NW, but JBG Smith sold that building to Philadelphia-based Post Brothers with an eye toward a residential conversion. The nonprofit’s new lease is for almost 60K SF at 2101 L St. NW. The tenant acknowledged that was a downsize without disclosing the size of its prior lease in comments to the Washington Business Journal, which first reported the deal after it was revealed in CBRE's Q2 report. JBG Smith will remain the nonprofit’s landlord at its new office.
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Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin, signed for 33K SF in Northern Virginia this quarter, according to CBRE's report and reported by WBJ yesterday. The firm will reportedly host its “newest engineering Center of Excellence” at 2001 Edmund Halley Drive, just over a mile from the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. The new office, owned by an affiliate of Tishman Speyer, will expand Blue Origin’s footprint at a time when major defense contractors like Boeing are shifting their headquarters to Northern Virginia to be closer to the federal government.
MILESTONES
Amazon Fresh has opened a 16K grocery store in Crystal City, the retailer announced Thursday. The new location, located at 1550 Crystal Drive in Arlington, features Amazon Fresh’s “Just Walk Out Shopping” technology, but also accepts cash, SNAP/EBT, or credit or debit cards. Its hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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Perseus TDC and partner Griffin Capital Co. began construction at The Residences at The Six, a multifamily development in Hyattsville, according to a press release Thursday. The 316-unit development, located at 6400 America Blvd., is planned to feature 2K SF of ground-floor retail and a 276-vehicle parking garage. The partners expect the project to deliver in summer 2024.
PERSONNEL
Christopher Finn, chief operating officer of Carlyle Group Inc., announced he would step down at the end of the year. Finn has been at the private equity firm for 26 years, and has been COO since March 2019, WBJ reported. Carlyle reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that Finn gave notice on July 1, but has not publicly commented on the move.
