Wednesday, January 15, 2025
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District of Columbia

District of ColumbiaLoansOfficeSoutheast

JLL Arranges $181.5M Refinancing Loan for Office Building in Southwest D.C.

by Alex Tostado

WASHNIGTON, D.C. — JLL has arranged a $181.5 million refinancing loan for Portals III, a 510,157-square-foot office building in southwest Washington, D.C. ACORE Capital provided the loan, which will be used to refinance existing debt, lease up the asset and fund capital improvements throughout the property. Portals III marks the third phase of the Portals mixed-use development, which comprises more than 1.5 million square feet of office space, more than 370 residential units, a 400-room Mandarin Oriental hotel and retail space. Andrew Weir, Cary Abod, Rob Carey, Drake Greer and Jay Graham of JLL represented the borrower, Washington, D.C-based Franklin L. Haney Co., in the loan transaction.

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaOfficeSoutheast

Normandy Real Estate Partners Sells Office Building in D.C. for $104.6M

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Normandy Real Estate Partners has sold 950 L’Enfant Plaza, a 315,726-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C., for $104.6 million. The nine-story building was 86 percent leased at the time of sale. I.M. Pei designed the property, which is situated within the 2.5 million-square-foot L’Enfant Plaza mixed-use development. The asset overlooks the Southwest Waterfront and has access to the L’Enfant Metrorail Station and is two blocks from the Virginia Railway Express Station. Matt Nicholson, Jim Meisel, Andrew Weir, Stephen Conley and Dave Baker of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.

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District of ColumbiaSoutheast

U.S. Job Gains of 130,000 in August Fall Short of Wall Street’s Expectations

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in August, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday morning. The job gains fell short of Wall Street’s expectations of 150,000. A closer look at the data shows the private sector added 96,000 jobs, while government added 34,000 jobs, including 28,000 at the federal level and 6,000 at the state level. The growth in federal government jobs largely reflected the hiring of temporary workers for the 2020 U.S. Census. In the private sector, notable job gains occurred in professional and business services (+37,000), healthcare (+24,000) and financial activities (+15,000). Retail trade employment declined by 11,000 in August, while mining employment fell by 6,000. Employment gains in June and July were 20,000 fewer than previously reported as a result of revisions to the data, according to the BLS. In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $28.11, following 9-cent gains in both June and July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent.

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaRetailSoutheast

Calkain Arranges $15M Sale of Triple-Net-Leased CVS in D.C.

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Calkain Cos. has arranged the $15 million sale of a triple-net-leased CVS property in Washington, D.C. The 8,754-square-foot building is located at 3323, 3325-3329 Connecticut Ave. NW, three miles north of downtown Washington, D.C. The building first served as a pharmacy in the 1950s before being converted to a CVS in 1990. Jonathan Hipp and Rick Fernandez of Calkain represented the seller, an undisclosed family trust, in the transaction. The buyer was a private investor completing a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaOfficeSoutheastTop Stories

Spanish Investor Buys 216,786 SF Office Building in D.C. for $231.3M

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ponte Gadea has acquired 815 Connecticut Ave. NW, a 216,786-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C., for $231.3 million. The sale was recorded with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds on Thursday, Aug. 29. The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) was the seller. According to multiple media reports, Blackstone bought the building in late 2016 for $190 million. The asset was built in 1964 and is situated across the street from The White House. In 2011, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton visited 815 Connecticut Ave. as part of Obama’s Better Building Initiative, according to the Washington Business Journal. Under the initiative, the building’s owner at the time, an affiliate of Swedish pension fund Alecta Real Estate Investment LLC, and general contractor Forrester Construction Co. completed a $30 million renovation. That project included an extensive update to the building’s mechanical systems, common areas and exterior facade that earned the building a LEED Gold certification, the Business Journal reported at the time. Ponte Gadea also purchased an 800,000-square-foot office building in Seattle for $740 million in March. Miami-based Ponte Gadea is led by Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, a fashion mogul whose company is parent to retail brand Zara. Ortega’s net …

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District of ColumbiaSoutheast

AGC: Construction Employment Rises in 71 Percent of U.S. Metros

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has reported that construction employment rose in 71 percent of U.S. metro areas from July 2018 to July 2019. Construction employment rose in 255 out of 358 market areas, declined in 56 areas and was unchanged in 47. Washington, D.C.-based AGC collected the data through a survey conducted with Autodesk. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale  metro area added the most construction jobs during the past year (12,100 jobs, up 8 percent), followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (11,900 jobs, 9 percent). The largest percentage gain occurred in Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash. (23 percent, 3,500 jobs), followed by Auburn-Opelika, Ala. (19 percent, 500 jobs). The largest job losses between July 2018 and July 2019 occurred in Baton Rouge, La. (negative 4,900 jobs, 9 percent loss), followed by Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C. (negative 3,100 jobs, down 5 percent). The largest percentage decrease took place in Watertown-Fort Drum, N.Y. (10 percent drop, minus 200 jobs).

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District of ColumbiaRetailSoutheast

U.S. Retail Sales Up 5.6 Percent from 2018, Says U.S. Census Bureau

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Census Bureau reports that retail sales in July were up 0.9 percent from June and 5.6 percent year-over-year. The numbers exclude restaurants, gas stations and automobile sales but include e-commerce sales. July’s results build on gains of 0.6 percent month-over-month and 2.2 percent year-over-year seen in June. Specifics from key retail sectors during July include: Online and other non-store sales were up 19.3 percent year-over-year and up 2.8 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted, likely boosted by Amazon’s Prime Day promotion, which the company said had more sales than its 2018 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined; Health and personal care stores were up 6.1 percent year-over-year but down 0.2 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted; Grocery and beverage stores were up 4 percent year-over-year and up 0.6 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted; and General merchandise stores were up 2.1 percent year-over-year and up 0.6 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted.

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AcquisitionsDevelopmentDistrict of ColumbiaMixed-UseSoutheastTop Stories

Lowe Acquires Former School Site in Washington, D.C., Plans 500,000 SF Art Museum-Anchored Development

by Kristin Harlow

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lowe, a national real estate investor, developer and manager, has acquired the former Randall School site at 65 I St. SW in Washington, D.C. Lowe plans to redevelop the 2.7-acre site into a 500,000-square-foot mixed-use project featuring a contemporary art museum. Lowe had first come on as partner for the project in 2017 but is now assuming control of the development from TRSW, a partnership between Telesis Corp., a national affordable housing developer, and the Rubell family, long-standing collectors and patrons of the arts. Lowe intends for the project to create an arts and cultural anchor in the Southwest neighborhood. The designated Arts District will provide a second home for the Miami-based Rubell Family Collection, an internationally acclaimed contemporary art collection that draws visitors from around the world, according to Mark Rivers, executive vice president at Lowe. At the core of the project is the restoration and repositioning of the school’s three buildings, of which two will be transformed into an approximately 31,000-square-foot art museum housing the Rubell Family Collection. Entry to the museum will be free of charge to all residents of the District. The West Randall building will be reconfigured as an 18,000-square-foot creative office …

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaOfficeSoutheast

Network Realty Partners, USAA Purchase 625,506 SF Office Complex in D.C.

by Alex Tostado

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partnership between Network Realty Partners and USAA Real Estate has purchased Union Square, an office complex in Washington, D.C.’s NoMa (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood. The property comprises a central courtyard and two nine-story office buildings totaling 625,506 square feet. Union Square was originally built in 1969 and renovated in 2012. The complex was 90 percent leased at the time of sale to government and nonprofit tenants. Dek Potts, Jim Meisel, Matt Nicholson and Sean Kraft of JLL represented the buyers in the transaction. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.

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Josh Simon (left) and Pierce Kruetzer are establishing a new Mid-Atlantic office of Lee & Associates.
District of ColumbiaLee & AssociatesSoutheastVirginia

Lee & Associates Opens New DC/Northern Virginia Office

by Jaime Lackey

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lee & Associates has named Josh Simon president of the firm’s new Washington, D.C/Northern Virginia regional office. Simon previously served as a partner with NAI KLNB. Pierce Kruetzer — also formerly of NAI KLNB — joins Simon as a principal with the new Lee & Associates office. Simon expects to grow the office with eight to 10 brokers to assist clients in need of office landlord representation, office tenant representation, retail leasing, industrial leasing, debt services and investment sales services. “Establishing a presence in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia is an extremely critical component of the Mid-Atlantic expansion strategy outlined by Lee & Associates several years ago, given the continued strength and momentum of the commercial real estate sector surrounding the Nation’s Capital,” notes Allan Riorda, Lee & Associates Board Member and President of the Maryland office. “This program most recently initiated in central Pennsylvania with the opening of the Harrisburg office. Over the next several years, we intend to establish locations in Baltimore, Frederick, Hagerstown and points throughout northern Virginia including Dulles and Tysons Corner.” Simon says, “With its business model, Lee & Associates is able to offer more competitive commission splits, backed by similar tools …

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