Penzance Buys 240K SF Arlington Office Building For $25M

Penzance has scooped up its second Arlington County property in as many months, this one a rare office building sale. 

The D.C.-based firm acquired the Ballston One office building at 4601 North Fairfax Drive, it announced Thursday. The firm didn't reveal the sale price, but property records show it sold for $25M. 

The seller, UBS Realty Investors, was represented in the deal by JLL's Matt Nicholson, Andrew Weir, Jim Meisel, Dave Baker, Kevin Byrd and Kameel Omar, the brokerage firm announced. 

The $25M sale of the 240K SF office building pencils out to $104.30 per SF. The property appears to have last sold in 1997 for $43M, according to property records, and its most recent tax assessment valued it at $63M. 

The building is around 60% occupied, according to a Penzance spokesperson. Its LoopNet page shows that it has more than 90K SF available. 

UBS didn't respond to a request for comment. 

Constructed in 1986, the 12-story building sits less than a half-mile from the Ballston Metro station. It has a mix of government and private sector tenants, JLL said in its release. 

For Penzance, the acquisition comes one month after it bought an apartment building on Arlington's Columbia Pike corridor for $105M. The firm also last year sold an apartment building it developed in Rosslyn. 

“Penzance has a long history of owning and developing in Arlington in general, and Ballston in particular,” Penzance Managing Director of Investments Cristopher White said in a statement. “We are excited to add to our growing portfolio in the region and hope to improve the neighborhood during our ownership through a creative approach to real estate operations.”

UPDATE, SEPT. 14, 4 P.M. ET: This story has been updated with information on the building's occupancy percentage.