Rockefeller Group Makes 2nd D.C.-Area Investment

New York-based Rockefeller Group is investing in a Downtown D.C. office building redevelopment, its second partnership in the area with the same developer. 

Rockefeller in October closed a deal with The Meridian Group to partner on its redevelopment of 1901 L St. NW, Rockefeller Group Mid-Atlantic Regional Development Officer Hilary Allard Goldfarb told Bisnow.

“They’re a very strong organization and one that we’re very pleased to be aligned with here in the Mid-Atlantic," Goldfarb said of Meridian. "To build on our success at Boro Tower and bring that momentum into core D.C. is a real momentum builder for us. We’re tactical, and we believe in this project."

Meridian acquired the 1901 L St. NW building from New York Life in early 2017 for $75M. Working with Fox Architects, it launched an extensive, trophy-level redevelopment of the property, including the addition of three new floors to the top. In November, the developer signed law firm Winston & Strawn to anchor the project, leasing 90K SF across the top four-and-a-half floors. 

The partnership comes after Meridian and Rockefeller teamed up on Boro Tower, the 20-story office building at The Boro mixed-use development in Tysons. That building has achieved strong leasing success, including a 168K SF deal with KPMG and smaller leases with law firm Hogan Lovells and media company Tegna. 

Following the success of the Boro Tower deal, Meridian Group Chief Investment Officer Gary Block said Rockefeller asked Meridian about additional projects in the area that could work for another partnership. He showed them 1901 L and it appealed to Rockefeller, he said, so they executed a deal with a similar structure to the Boro Tower partnership. 

"We're like-minded in the way we go about ground-up development or major repositionings," Block said. "We’re very like-minded and very symbiotic in the way we look at things, so it's a very enjoyable partnership."