This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
A Miami-based investor has acquired a portfolio of low-slung office properties in Silver Spring from D.C.-based DSC Partners in a $41M deal.
ESJ Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm founded in 2008, acquired the six-building, 250K SF WesTech Portfolio, Transwestern's Gerry Trainor told Bisnow.
Trainor and Transwestern's Jim Cardellicchio brokered the deal. Trainor said the portfolio includes flex products ideal for medical office buildings or life sciences.
The portfolio was 77% leased at the time of sale, and it is roughly 30% medical office. The seller, DSC, was founded by former First Potomac Realty Trust executives Doug Donatelli and Nicholas Smith with a mission to acquire value-add and Class-A assets in the region.
The WesTech properties in this week’s deal were part of a broader 28-building portfolio that DSC acquired in 2019.
SALES
Comstock continued its acquisition streak this week around Reston Station, acquiring an office building at 1891 Metro Center Drive. The 58K SF office building, located on the western end of Reston Station, will be temporarily used as flex space for the developer, but Comstock plans to redevelop the property and incorporate it into the broader Metro Plaza District in 2023.
Federal contractor Maximus formerly owned and occupied the building, according to property records. It has since vacated, and retained Cushman & Wakefield to broker the sale, Commercial Observer reported.
LEASES
Federal Realty, the developer behind Pike & Rose, has secured the final tenant joining the REIT in 909 Rose. Bright MLS, a real estate data services firm, signed a 13K SF lease in the 11-story building, bringing the office to fully leased. Federal Realty began construction on the building in 2017, and moved its headquarters to the second and third floors in 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
Office leasing at the 24-acre neighborhood will now shift to 915 Meeting St., where Choice Hotels has already agreed to occupy 40% of the building. Bernie McCarthy and Danny Sheridan of JLL represented Federal Realty at 909 Rose, and Avison Young’s Bob Dickman and Rusty McCabe represented Bright MLS.
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Manekin LLC and Turnbridge Equities, the developers of National Capital Business Park in Prince George’s County, have signed a major new tenant. Ferguson Enterprises has agreed to occupy more than 358K SF in one building of the 440-acre campus under development between Bowie and Upper Marlboro, the Washington Business Journal reported Thursday.
The $1B National Capital Business Park has 13 buildings under development, and its first phase is scheduled to deliver in mid-2023. The developers were represented by NAI Michael. Ferguson was represented by CBRE.
MILESTONES
The NRP Group and joint venture partner Willton Investment Management are scheduled to celebrate the grand opening of a 354-unit apartment community in Greenbelt next week. Motiva, located near the Greenbelt Metro station and the planned Purple Line, is located at 6420 Cherrywood Lane. Floor plans include studios up to three-bedrooms and amenities include a pool, fitness center, business center and clubhouse.
FINANCING
An all-affordable multifamily project in Ward 7 from Foulger-Pratt and Enduring Affordable Housing Corp. landed $89M in public financing to begin construction, the D.C. Housing Finance Agency announced this week. The Paxton, a 148-unit project located next to the H Street Corridor at 16th Street and Benning Road NE, got nearly $47M in tax-exempt bonds and $42M in local and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity, Bisnow reported Tuesday.
PERSONNEL
Cushman & Wakefield hired longtime CBRE broker Brian Wood to serve as executive managing director for its office tenant team, the brokerage announced Thursday. Wood’s work representing tenants in the D.C. area spans two decades, and he has executed transactions totaling more than 6M SF and worth about $800M, per a press release. Prior to his role as senior vice president at CBRE, Wood was also a director at Newmark Knight Frank from September 2000 to October 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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Edge hired a former senior vice president at Avison Young to join its advisory services team. Jesse Martin, who joins the firm as a senior vice president, will advise commercial property owners and tenants, source financing, and manage acquisitions or dispositions for owners and investors. Prior to his time at Avison Young, Martin was also a vice president at RREEF Management Co. and held roles at Adler Realty Services and Trammell Crow.
CORRECTION, SEPT. 13, 11:30 A.M. ET: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the joint venture partner for Motiva. This story has been updated.
