After Record Sale In 2014, The Woodley Is Back On The Market
The buyer that set a D.C. record five years ago with its acquisition of a Northwest D.C. apartment building is now looking to sell the property.
CBRE is marketing The Woodley for sale on behalf of its owner, Nuveen Real Estate, according to a listing on the brokerage firm's website.
Nuveen, which recently rebranded as a subsidiary of TIAA, acquired the 212-unit building in 2014 for $195M. The $920K/unit price tag blew away the previous record of $540K/unit, also set by a TIAA acquisition in 2011.
The JBG Cos. developed the building in 2014 and sold it before tenants moved in, a strategy that is common for developers looking to avoid delays from D.C.'s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. If a contract for sale is reached, The Woodley's tenants could have an opportunity to form an association and buy the building themselves at the same price, under D.C. law.
The Woodley is now 94% occupied and its units are leased for an average monthly rent of $4,584 or $4.10/SF, according to CBRE's marketing brochure. The three-bedroom apartments at The Woodley rent for over $10K/month, making them among the priciest rentals in D.C.
HFF's Dave Nachison brokered the record-setting 2014 sale. The building is now being marketed by a CBRE team that includes Bill Roohan, Mike Muldowney, Robert Dean, Jonathan Greenberg, Martha Hastings and Brian Margerum.
The building, designed by David M. Schwarz Architects, is about a quarter-mile from the Woodley Park Metro station. It sits next to the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel and and the historic Wardman Tower, which JBG redeveloped into high-end condos in 2017.
The Woodley's amenities include a clubroom with a catering kitchen, a fitness center with a yoga studio, a rooftop terrace, an infinity pool, a business center, a study room, a dog run, a pet spa, a playground, a bike room and meditation gardens. Its apartments range from 622 SF studios to 2,100 SF three-bedrooms apartments.
Among the benefits of buying the property CBRE's marketing brochure details is the high barrier to entry in the neighborhood, with only 339 units expected to deliver within a 1-mile radius through 2020. Advocates and developers have criticized some Northwest D.C. neighborhoods for their relative lack of new residential construction, but for the buyer of an existing building it can be seen as a positive.
"It is difficult to find available land and obtain entitlements for the construction of an apartment community in Northwest Washington D.C.," CBRE's marketing brochure said. "Within Woodley Park, one of the most highly regulated neighborhoods in D.C., there is a scarcity of developable land, and redevelopment plans face major resistance."
