American Realty Advisors sold a 146k SF office building in Bethesda, showing the strength of the neighborhood's office market during a year of relatively low regional sales.

Hampden Square, at 4800 Montgomery Lane, sold to The Donohoe Cos for an undisclosed price. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal and secured $49M in financing for Donohoe to buy the 12-story building.

The property is on the corner of Montgomery Lane and Woodmont Avenue, adjacent to the upcoming Bethesda Purple Line station, where Carr Properties is planning a three-building development.

The purchase comes after Donohoe moved its HQ to Bethesda in April, so the company must see something in Bethesda's office market.

Cushman & Wakefield's Bill Collins, who brokered the deal, tells Bisnow that Bethesda has the perfect storm for attracting office buyers.

"It’s all of the elements working together," Bill, pictured here on the right next to MetLife's Anthony Balestrieri at a Bisnow event in January, says. "People are moving to these urban hubs because of the work, live and play environments. Employers are benefited by the highly qualified work force these areas attract and the end result is office space in these areas get better rents."

Bill acknowledges these types of sales are increasingly few and far between.

"There's becoming a scarcity value for these high-quality buildings," he says. "In great micro-markets you're just not going to see these things come up for sale as regularly as they have in the past, these type of buildings. People want to own longer term."