Downtown D.C. Office Building Valued At $500M Hits The Market

At a time when rising interest rates and economic uncertainty have made deals scarce, the owner of one big Downtown D.C. office building is looking to sell.

Munich Re has retained Cushman & Wakefield to market Columbia Square, a 600K SF office building at 555 13th St.  NW, Real Estate Alert reported.

The building, valued at $500M, is 92% occupied with rent revenue expected to return $300M over the next 11 years, per the publication.

If it trades at roughly its value, the deal would be twice the size of the largest office sale to occur in the second quarter of this year. That title belongs to 1900 N St., a 271K SF office building that sold to Commerz Real AG for $245M, according to Avison Young's quarterly market report. 

Columbia Square has undergone $17M in renovations over the last five years, including to the 13-story atrium lobby, fitness center and other amenities.

Hines developed Columbia Square in 1987, and the real estate firm maintains an office there today. 

The building's largest tenant, Hogan Lovells, occupies 80% of the building and has a lease that expires in 2033. 

Hogan Lovells Managing Director Peter Genet said at a Bisnow event in 2018 that it was staying in Columbia Square, where it has been based since the building was first constructed, because the firm had a good relationship with the landlord.

The law firm was also able to receive concessions in its long-term lease, including a rooftop deck designed by Hines, an amenity that sweetened the decision to stay.

"It's the legacy, you've been in the space for 20-plus years and you know the landlord," Genet said. "The other thing is the access was key. Columbia Square is right at the heart of folks coming in from Maryland and Virginia, it's right above Metro Center and we had the parking capacity."