This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
A 373-key hotel that put Washington, D.C.'s hospitality scene on the map two decades ago has changed hands, with a refresh on the way.
London-based Henderson Park, a private equity real estate manager, acquired the former Mandarin Oriental hotel at 1330 Maryland Ave. SW, for about $139M, the Washington Business Journal reported.
The hotel will be operated by Salamander Hotels & Resorts and rebranded as the Salamander Washington, D.C. It is the first D.C. location for the hospitality company founded in 2005 by Sheila Johnson, the co-founder of BET who is also a part owner of the Washington Mystics WNBA team.
As part of the revamp, Salamander plans to expand the circa 2004 property's spa and update its food and beverage offerings.
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Global CEO Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Senior Managing Director Jeffrey Davis and Executive Vice President Stephany Chen brokered the deal for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited, according to a press release.
SALES
An affiliate of Heitman LLC has acquired two medical office buildings totaling more than 103K SF from Anchor Health Properties and MedProperties, according to a press release. The assets sold for roughly $46M combined, property records show. Shady Grove Professional Centers I and II, located at 15001 and 15005 Shady Grove Road next door to the Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland, are 87% leased. JLL's Brannan Knott, Mindy Berman, Dave Baker, Anthony Sardo, Chris Hew and Landon Weaver worked on the deal on behalf of the seller.
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Tritower Financial Group sold Independence Center II, a fully leased office building in Chantilly, Virginia, for $39M, Fairfax County property records show. The primary address of the buyer, Chantilly VA II Dgh LLC, is Boyd Watterson Asset Management's Chicago address. The building, known as Independence Center II, was completed in 2006, and it features Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility rooms, data centers and backup generators, according to a press release from JLL. The brokerage's capital markets team, led by Jim Meisel, Matt Nicholson, Andrew Weir, Dave Baker and Kevin Byrd, arranged the deal on behalf of the seller.
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American Real Estate Partners acquired a property it has been eyeing for an office-to-residential conversion in Old Town Alexandria, setting in motion plans for the 200-unit redevelopment. The redevelopment, located at 1101 King St., is expected to break ground in July 2023. AREP said the units are expected to be larger than average and feature in-home workspaces. The property will also keep its ground-floor retail, which totals roughly 17K SF, Bisnow reported Monday.
MILESTONES
Comstock is planning to celebrate the grand opening of its BLVD Ansel multifamily building on Sept. 29. The developer acquired the property, located at 33 Monroe St. in Rockville, Maryland, from Duball LLC in March. Comstock had previously acquired another property from Duball in Rockville in October 2021. The two properties added to Comstock's portfolio of transit-oriented, high-end multifamily buildings, CEO Chris Clemente said in March.
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The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority selected Winn Cos. and IBF Development to transform the Ladrey High Rise into a larger mid-rise property with additional affordable units. The property, located at 300 Wythe St. in Alexandria's Old Town North submarket, is slated to be torn down and replaced, with current residents of the fully leased property expected to return once it's completed in "several years," according to a press release.
Pettigrew told Bisnow in June he expects the new project to have roughly 300 units when completed. None of the units will be market-rate, but roughly a third will be considered workforce housing, a spokesperson for ARHA confirmed to Bisnow Friday.
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Monument Realty and Nuveen Real Estate broke ground on a 135K SF, ground-up life sciences property in Gaithersburg, the developers announced this week. The four-story Monument Innovation Center project, which is expected to attain LEED Gold status when it delivers in mid-2023, is located at 735 Watkins Mill Road. The project will feature enhanced electrical capacity and increased loading capacity on the tenant floors, according to a press release. Monument Realty's Doug Olson is handling leasing for the property, which is just off I-270.
FINANCING
Amazon announced its latest round of funding Wednesday for 11 affordable housing projects totaling $147M. The projects in this round are heavily focused in D.C. proper and include the long-planned redevelopment of a neglected apartment complex adjacent to the Congress Heights Metro station. The full list of projects spans six of D.C.'s eight wards, as well as a project each in Prince George's County and Montgomery County and in Alexandria. Bisnow reported the full list of projects receiving funding on Wednesday.
