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 worth is $67 billion, making him the fifth richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.
New York City-based Blackstone had $545.5 million worth of real estate assets under management at the end of second-quarter 2019. The company’s stock price closed Thursday at $49.57 per share, up from $36.89 per share one year ago.
— Alex Tostado