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The Spanish Education Development Center and many of its supporters in D.C.'s commercial real estate community gathered Wednesday to celebrate the organization's purchase of its headquarters.
The gathering, held at Foggy Bottom's District Commons, also served as the kickoff for SED Center's Pub Games, an event being held April 4 that will bring hundreds in the real estate community together at Penn Social to show off costumes and compete in games.
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An organization that provides bilingual academic programs to low-income D.C. residents, SED Center operates its school and administrative headquarters at 4110 Kansas Ave. NW. The organization, founded in 1971, 10 years ago began leasing the Petworth building, formerly the Hahn Shoe warehouse. The Clark Foundation raised $4M in 2008 to renovate the 22K SF building into an educational facility.
Boston Properties Senior Executive Vice President Ray Ritchey, SED Center's board president, arranged the initial lease to include a purchase option in the 10th year, which SED Center decided to exercise.
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With a loan from BB&T, also the title sponsor for the Pub Games, SED Center this year acquired the building for $4.7M from Goodhart Management. D.C.'s Revenue Bond Program helped the deal come together, and law firm Arent Fox worked with the organization during the process.
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SED Center today provides services for over 160 children. It also provides continuing education, such as English as a second language and computer skills, for over 300 adults. The real estate community last year raised $110K for SED Center at the fifth annual pub games, with companies such as Boston Properties, DFS Construction, Clark Construction, Wingate Hughes, Cushman & Wakefield and others competing.
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