Many DCers might overlook that other capital city to the south--Richmond--but not HFF's Dek Potts, who along with colleagues Steve Conley, Jim Meisel, Andrew Weir, and Jess Dickinson recently picked up the sale listing for packaging giant MeadWestvaco's 310k SF HQ building along the James River. Dek says there's "no doubt this is the best office building in the Richmond market," with a modern design (built in 2009 by developer NewMarket Corp) and riverfront location. And Dek says MeadWestvaco's decision to relocate to Richmond speaks to the market's strength: the company searched for over two years at 14 different locations.

Dek says his team is seeing interest from many different buyers, including private REITs, who are attracted to MeadWestvaco's long-term lease (through 2023) and an in-place cap rate in the mid-7s. All this activity is why we're hosting our second State of the Market event next Tuesday at the Omni Richmond. 300 joined us for the inaugural event last year (above), including some folks from DC. Sign up here!