District of Columbia

JBG Smith, Landmark Partners Sell 500 L’Enfant Plaza Office Building in D.C. for $167M

by Julia Sanders September 22, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — JBG Smith and Landmark Partners, an Ares Co, have sold 500 L’Enfant Plaza, a 215,000-square-foot office property in Washington, D.C. The buyer, which purchased the property for $167 million, was not disclosed. Jim Meisel and Matt Nicholson of JLL represented JBG Smith in the sale. Delivered in 2019 and designed by ZGF Architects, 500 L’Enfant Plaza is a LEED Gold-certified property. The plaza was 96 percent leased to seven tenants at the time of the sale. The building serves as Urban Institute’s global headquarters and is home to other tenants including Cobec Consulting, Noblis and the Office of the Inspector General for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

September 22, 2021

District of Columbia Retail Southeast

Uptick in August Retail Sales Bodes Well for Consumer Spending in Fourth Quarter, Says NRF Economist

by Julia Sanders September 17, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. retail sales increased in August as consumer demand outweighed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and other factors that affected spending. Even though there was a decrease in car sales due to shipping problems and product shortages, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the sales for retailers and restaurants increased by 0.7 percent in August. The chief economist for the National Retail Federation (NRF), Jack Kleinhenz, says consumers continued to heavily shop last month despite a “trifecta of macroeconomic headwinds,” including the ending of federal government stimulus, a rise of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant and supply chain problems. “Higher sales came even with a disjointed back-to-school season that also affected the timing of sales as many school districts returned to in-person learning but some delayed classes until after Labor Day. These results pave the way for sturdy consumer spending and a strong economy in the fourth quarter,” says Kleinhenz. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, overall retail sales in August were up 15.1 percent year-over-year. Even though some months, such as July 2021, have decreased or slowed its retail sales, the Census data shows that sales have overall grown year-over-year …

September 17, 2021

District of Columbia Southeast

US Economy Adds 235,000 Jobs in August, Much Lower Than Previous Months

by Julia Sanders September 3, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate dropped by 20 basis points to 5.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. The economy added much fewer jobs in August compared to July, which was revised up by 110,000 to a total of a little over 1 million jobs. Nonfarm employment has increased by 17 million jobs since April of last year, but is still 5.3 million below the total workforce in February 2020, the last month before the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. There were notable job gains in several sectors in August: 74,000 jobs were added in professional and business services, 19,000 in architectural and engineering services and 10,000 in computer systems design and related services. Despite gains in professional and business services employment, jobs in the sector have declined by 468,000 compared to February 2020. The transportation and warehousing sector also added 53,000 jobs last month, which brings the industry’s employment 22,000 jobs above its pre-pandemic level in February 2020. With the back-to-school season starting back up in August, there were mixed signals for the growth of the education industry. There was …

September 3, 2021

District of Columbia Multifamily Southeast

NMHC Agrees with Supreme Court Ruling to End National Eviction Moratorium

by Julia Sanders August 27, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has publicly shown support of the Supreme Court’s decision to end the nationwide eviction moratorium. In a statement released this morning, NMHC detailed its support of a short-term ban to evictions during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does not believe a long-term ban on evictions is going to help sustain the economy. At the beginning of August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had extended the eviction ban once again to end on Oct 3. On Thursday, Aug. 26, The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to end the pandemic-related federal eviction ban. The Supreme Court ruled that the CDC had overstepped its authority, and Congress must be the one to implement any future eviction ban. During the onset of the pandemic, NMHC convinced Congress to create a federal rental assistance program to prevent a housing crisis, and so Congress created the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The program, plus the rest of the $4 trillion of economic relief provided by the government, helped residents to pay their rent. About 80.2 percent of apartment renters made a full or partial rent payment by Aug. 6, according to NMHC’s latest Rent …

August 27, 2021

Acquisitions Company News Data Centers District of Columbia Industrial Life Sciences Maryland Office Southeast Texas Top Stories Virginia

PRP Sells Four Office Campuses for $1B, Makes $2B Commitment for Logistics and Data Center Acquisitions

by John Nelson August 24, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — PRP, a privately held real estate investment and management firm based in Washington, D.C., is making a sea change as it looks to bolster its logistics and data center portfolio and churn its office assets. The company is in the process of selling four office campuses in separate deals totaling more than $1 billion. At the same time, PRP is allocating $2 billion to acquire logistics facilities leased to credit-worthy companies in primary and secondary markets, as well as data centers and land zoned for future data centers. The specific locations of the assets were not disclosed. “The assets that we are acquiring are located in attractive markets backed by solid demographics, high barriers to entry and historically high industrial occupancy rates,” says Joe Neckles, managing director of net lease acquisitions at PRP. “The logistics and data center sectors remained highly resilient throughout the pandemic and continue to grow at rates well in excess of inflation.” The office assets that PRP is selling include Sequoia Plaza, a 370,000-square-foot campus spanning three buildings in Northern Virginia’s Arlington County. The property houses the headquarters of Arlington County’s Department of Human Services and the Arlington County Public School System. An …

August 24, 2021

District of Columbia Retail Southeast

NRF: Retail Sales Slowed in July Amid Rising Cases of Delta Variant

by Julia Sanders August 18, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports retail sales have decreased 1.1 percent in July over the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis — not including automobile dealers, gas stations and restaurants — and up 9.5 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Retail sales in July were worse than the Dow Jones’ prediction of a 0.3 percent decrease, according to CNBC. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the delta variant is more than 98.8 percent of all COVID-19 cases currently in the United States. In June, the NRF reported a month-over-month increase of 1.1 percent and a year-over-year growth of 12.8 percent. For the first seven months of 2021, the NRF reports that retail sales increased 15.5 percent from the same time period last year. This data matches the organization’s revised forecast for 2021 retail sales to increase between 10.5 and 13.5 percent over last year to between $4.44 trillion and $4.56 trillion. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, retail sales have grown year-over-year every month since June 2020, despite some month-over-month declines. The NRF reports that July sales were down in all categories but two on a monthly basis but up across the board year-over-year. Health and …

August 18, 2021

Acquisitions District of Columbia Office Southeast

JLL Closes $766M Sale of WashREIT Office Portfolio in Metro D.C., Virginia

by Julia Sanders August 17, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — JLL has closed the $766 million sale of a 12-property office portfolio totaling 2.3 million square feet in metro Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Stephen Conley, Matt Nicholson, Jim Meisel, Andrew Weir, Dave Baker and Chris Capece of JLL represented the seller, WashREIT. Brookfield Asset Management was the buyer. The portfolio sale, which was announced in mid-June, includes six office properties across Northern Virginia and six in Washington, D.C.’s central business district. WashREIT is a Washington, D.C.-based owner and operator of office, retail and multifamily properties in the metro Washington area. The firm has a portfolio of 31 properties with 7,059 multifamily apartment units and about 1 million square feet of commercial space. The sale goes along with WashREIT’s multi-year plan of transforming into a multifamily REIT. The company also plans to sell its remaining eight retail assets and expects to complete that sale in the third quarter of this year.

August 17, 2021

Company News District of Columbia Office Southeast

Merchants Capital Opens New Office in D.C., Fifth Location Nationwide

by Julia Sanders August 13, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Merchants Capital, a Carmel, Ind.-based affordable housing lender, has opened a new office in Washington, D.C., that will be the company’s fifth location nationwide. Located at 505 9th St. NW, Suite 800, the new office serves as a hub for a dozen team members and is part of the company’s strategy to expand its national lending footprint with a concentration on the East Coast. “We are excited to be positioned in downtown Washington, D.C., as it is a natural fit for the firm to be in close proximity to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other landmark institutions that support affordable multifamily housing across the nation,” says Dwayne George, the executive vice president and national head of production for Merchants Capital. The new office follows the announcement that Merchants Capital was named the No. 4 affordable multifamily lender nationwide in 2020 by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last year, Merchants Capital closed $2.2 billion in affordable housing loans across 188 transactions, with an average transaction size of $11.8 million.

August 13, 2021

District of Columbia Loans Southeast

MBA: Second-Quarter Commercial, Multifamily Loans Rise More Than Double from 2020

by Julia Sanders August 13, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers have closed 106 percent more loans in the second quarter of 2021 compared to a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations released on Thursday. Compared to first-quarter 2021, loan originations grew by 66 percent. During the second quarter of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic really took a toll on the economy, which is a major factor as to why loans doubled in the second quarter of 2021 comparatively. “Mortgage originations doubled compared to the second quarter of 2020, when loan demand cratered, and pandemic-related uncertainty made extending credit difficult,” says Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. “Even more notable is that compared to levels seen in 2019, a record year for originations, this year’s second quarter showed a modest 1 percent increase.” In the second quarter of 2021, all property types saw an increase in commercial/multifamily lending volumes year-over-year. For industrial properties, the second quarter saw a 327 percent increase in the dollar volume of loans. As far as the other property sectors, healthcare saw a 302 percent increase, hotels had a 234 percent hike, office had a 149 …

August 13, 2021

District of Columbia Loans Southeast

MBA Predicts Annual Commercial, Multifamily Lending Volume to Increase By 31 Percent in 2021

by Julia Sanders August 11, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers are expected to close approximately $578 billion of loans backed by income-producing properties in 2021, according to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Tuesday. The report predicts a 31 percent increase from last year’s loan volume of $442 billion. Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president for commercial real estate research, says that commercial and multifamily real estate markets are moving past the pain that the COVID-19 pandemic caused in 2020. “There remain significant differences by property type, but incomes have rebounded strongly and investor interest in real estate and real estate finance is robust,” says Woodwell. “The result is strong property appreciation and increased transaction activity, both of which are fueling financings.” MBA predicts that multifamily lending alone will rise to $409 billion this year, which would be a new record and a 13 percent increase from 2020’s total of $360 billion. Looking ahead, MBA anticipates additional increases in lending volume in 2022, with activity rising to $597 billion in commercial/multifamily loan originations by mortgage bankers, and $421 billion in total multifamily lending. Based in Washington, D.C., the MBA is a national association representing the real estate finance industry, …

August 11, 2021

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