WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 178,000-square-foot Carroll Square, a Class A office property located at 975 F St. in Washington, D.C.’s East End submarket, has traded for $121.4 million in a leasehold sale. The buyer, GLL Partners, purchased Carroll Square and assumed an existing loan on the property. GLL Partners is an institutional real estate investment advisory firm based in Munich, Germany.
The seller was Seaton Benkowski & Partners, a boutique real estate advisory firm based in Washington, D.C. Seaton Benkowski & Partners partnered with Washington, D.C.-based Akridge for the development, leasing and management of Carroll Square.
The 10-story office property is comprised of new construction and seven late 19th century commercial townhomes. The development includes a small public art gallery, three rooftop terraces and a pocket park located near St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on the north side of the property.
The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. has a ground lease on the property through 2102 and the rest of the office space is fully leased to tenants such as Seyfarth Shaw, Holland & Hart and Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, all law firms. Retail tenants include Le Pain Quotidien, Leica Camera and Coco Sala.
Carroll Square is in close proximity to Gallery Place, the Verizon Center and the New Convention Center. The office building is also within walking distance to five different metro lines.
The sales price of Carroll Square came out to be approximately $682 per square foot, well above the median price of $253 per square foot for Washington, D.C. office properties, according to Marcus & Millichap. The median price reached $290 per square foot at the peak of the market in 2008.
Stephen Conley, executive managing director of HFF, and senior managing directors Jim Meisel, Dek Potts and Andrew Weir led the HFF team that represented the seller in the leasehold sale transaction. HFF real estate analysts Matt Nicholson and Jessica Dickinson also assisted in the transaction.
— John Nelson