One of the most active office buyers in D.C. has purchased yet another property in the center of the city.
Jemal Equities, founded last year by Matthew Jemal, the son of Douglas Development head Douglas Jemal, paid $45M for the office building at 1615 L St. NW, D.C. deed records show.
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The 417K SF property, which sits a block away from the Farragut North Metro station, was previously owned by Carr Properties but has been controlled by a receiver since 2024. A judge with the D.C. Superior Court approved the sale by the receiver in July, court records show.
Two limited liability companies managed by Jemal, 1615 L FS LLC and Jemal's RI 1615 LLC, took out a $48M loan for the purchase from NEG Financing I LLC, deed records show, $45M of which was used for the acquisition.
Jemal Equities and Carr Properties didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The office building at 1615 L was 27.6% leased as of September, according to special servicer commentary filed in Morningstar Credit’s database, down from 67.6% occupancy as of the end of 2024. The building lost a two-floor tenant in January 2025, a full-floor tenant that April, and another full-floor tenant that August, according to the servicer commentary.
1615 L was built in 1984 and renovated in 2018. Carr purchased it in 2016 for $229M, assuming a two-piece $134M CMBS loan. It housed Carr’s headquarters there until Carr moved into its Midtown Center development down the street this year.
Carr failed to pay off its CMBS debt at maturity in September 2023, and a court appointed a receiver, Trigild, in July 2024.
The property’s valuation has dipped drastically over the past 13 years. At the time of its securitization in 2013, 1615 L was appraised at $213M. But that number dropped to $51M as of last October, according to Morningstar Credit’s database.
Trigild selected Cushman & Wakefield to lease the office space in July 2025, court documents show. At the time, the brokerage said it had 300K SF available, more than 200K SF of which was contiguous.
Over the last year, Jemal Equities has purchased at least four other office buildings in D.C. proper. Last month, it paid $92.3M for a BXP office building on Connecticut Avenue anchored by Steptoe. That came after its May purchase of a Navy Yard office building for $93M. The firm this week launched its website, which lists not just office but also retail, hotel and multifamily holdings.
Conversely, Carr has been quickly shedding office assets in the city over the past 18 months while shifting to focus on multifamily development. In mid-2025, it handed over three of its D.C. assets to a J.P. Morgan Asset Management fund as part of an equity buyout, Bisnow first reported at the time. Around the same time, it sold at least two other D.C.-area office buildings: 4500 East-West Highway in Bethesda and 901 K St. NW in the District.
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