2015 is just about over, meaning firms have been racing to get deals done and on the books. Here’s a list of every significant commercial real estate transaction we could find—25 in all since mid-November—including some prices and buyers/sellers that haven’t been previously reported anywhere.
There were seven nine-figure deals closed in the last month. In 24 of the 25 deals we’ve seen close or announce since mid-November (we couldn’t track down a price on one of them), approximately $1.6B in real estate has changed hands. Capital markets teams at local brokerages have been busy.
Dweck Properties spent more than $200M on 683 suburban residential units. Lest we forget, Ralph Dweck is the current record-holder for best return on an office property: $1,101/SF with a cap rate of 4.3% on America’s Square, two buildings at 300 New Jersey Ave and 51 Louisiana Ave NW. These are not the only multifamily purchases Dweck made in 2015. One of the smartest players in this area is buying up apartments in the ‘burbs. Just sayin’.
Developers clearly see value in suburban offices, but less value than they saw in the last cycle. The sellers of offices in Reston, Herndon and Shirlington (pictured) all took sizable losses, according to property records. Value-add properties are the most active assets in both multifamily and office, and late in the year we didn’t see any price tags approach a record.
The race for most active investor in the closing frenzy was a five-way tie among Carr Properties (one buy, one sale), Dweck (two buys), Federal Capital Partners (two sales), the JV of Angelo Gordon & Co/The Donaldson Group (two sales), and Galaxy Metro (two buys).
And, without further ado, here’s the list:
Verizon Campus/Former MCI Worldcom HQ (pictured)
Property: 130-acre campus, 1.9M SF of office
Location: Ashburn, VA
Price: $212.5M
Seller: Verizon
Buyer: Davidson Kempner Capital Management/American Real Estate Partners
1333 H St NW
Property: 269k SF in two connected office buildings
Location: CBD
Price: $162.5M
Seller: MRP Realty/Rockpoint Group
Buyer: TA Realty LLC
The Crossings at Washingtonian Center
Property: 648-unit apartment complex
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Price: $146M
Seller: Quadrangle Development
Buyer: Grosvenor Americas
Jefferson Marketplace
Property: 281-unit apartment building with 13k SF of retail
Location: Shaw
Price: $141M
Seller: Jefferson Apartment Group
Buyer: Invesco Real Estate
Rolling Brook Village
Property: 432-unit apartment complex
Location: Woodbridge, VA
Price: $138M
Seller: Angelo, Gordon & Co./The Donaldson Group
Buyer: Dweck Properties
1575 Eye St NW
Property: 219k SF office building
Location: CBD
Price: $107.9M
Seller: Carr Properties
Buyer: Duwaliya US Real Estate (Qatari Royal Family)
Apex Building (pictured)
Property: 164k SF office, plans for future mixed-use of up to 935k SF
Location: Bethesda, MD
Price: $105.5M
Seller: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Buyer: Carr Properties
The Kingsley
Property: 175-unit mixed-use building with Harris Teeter-anchored retail Location: Alexandria, VA
Price: Undisclosed (but well north of $83M, per the WBJ)
Seller: Buchanan Partners/Principal Real Estate Investors/The Pinkard Group
Buyer: LaSalle Investment Management
Metropolitan at Lorton Station
Property: 251-unit apartment complex
Location: Lorton, VA
Price: $65.2M
Seller: Cornerstone Real Estate Investors
Buyer: Dweck Properties
1250 23rd St NW
Property: 128k SF office building with ground-floor retail
Location: West End
Price: $64M
Seller: Westport Capital Partners
Buyer: Galaxy Metro/Hartford Investment Management Co
Andrews Ridge Apartments
Property: 492-unit apartment complex
Location: Suitland, MD
Price: $59.5M
Seller: Angelo, Gordon & Co/The Donaldson Group
Buyer: Unknown
1501 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 730 15th St NW
Property: 5k SF Bank of America, 112k SF office, building
Location: Right near the White House
Price: $55.5M
Seller: Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers (on behalf of an institution)
Buyer: The Milken Institute
11111 Sunset Hills Road (pictured)
Property: 216k SF office building
Location: Reston, VA
Price: $54.6M (previously undisclosed)
Seller: Beacon Capital Partners
Buyer: The Meridian Group
Homestead at Laurel (previously Montpelier Crossing)
Property: 386-unit apartment complex
Location: Laurel, MD
Price: $52.9M
Seller: Federal Capital Partners
Buyer: Pantzer Properties
Shirlington Tower
Property: 233k SF office building
Location: Shirlington, VA
Price: $45M (previously undisclosed)
Seller: A-Quincy Tower LLC
Buyer: Velocis/Moore & Associates
Unnamed Future Data Center
Property: 125.9 acres of undeveloped land
Location: Ashburn, VA
Price: $43M
Seller: Unknown
Buyer: Digital Realty Trust
South Pointe Apartments
Property: 390-unit apartment complex
Location: Temple Hills, MD
Price: $35.8M
Seller: Federal Capital Partners
Buyer: Unknown
1270 4th St NE
Property: 51k SF of land for future 440-unit, 30k SF of retail building
Location: Union Market/NoMa
Price: $25.6M
Seller: Edens
Buyer: Trammell Crow Residential/Level 2 Development
Herndon Square
Property: 121k SF in two office buildings
Location: Herndon, VA
Price: $21.8M (previously undisclosed)
Seller: Farmers Group (previously undisclosed)
Buyer: Crilley Warehouse
The Harrison Building
Property: 101k SF office building
Location: Tysons, VA
Price: $21.5M
Seller: TIAA-CREF
Buyer: Galaxy Metro
Former Parkway Atrium Building
Property: 183k SF office building
Location: Herndon, VA
Price: $21M
Seller: Private family trust
Buyer: Stream Realty
Park Stone Place (pictured)
Property: 76k SF office building
Location: Chantilly, VA
Price: $21.0M
Seller: Blue Knight LLC
Buyer: Epic LLC
Comsat Campus (pictured)
Property: 204-acre property with 496k SF office
Location: Clarksburg, MD
Price: $11.5M
Seller: LCOR
Buyer: Lantian Development
1690 Old Meadow Road
Property: 13k SF building plus a large surface parking lot
Location: Tysons, VA
Price: $7.6M
Seller: GEICO
Buyer: Akridge, Ronald D. Paul Cos
This requires a little more context: Akridge and friend to Bisnow Ron Paul’s private development company, bought this GEICO claims training center and plan to develop a 250k SF trophy office building in its place. It signed GEICO to occupy a new, 32k SF training facility in Ashburn to clear the way for the future development.
Rose’s Luxury
Property: 4,540 SF restaurant
Location: Barracks Row
Price: $4.1M
Seller: Greg Selfridge of Novo Development and James Gushner
Buyer: Unknown