Communications Firm Grows Office With Move From L To K Street: The D.C. Deal Sheet
Communications and digital marketing agency Rational 360 is expanding its footprint while relocating its headquarters within Downtown D.C.
The firm is moving half a mile east of its 10K SF office at Tower Cos.’ 1828 L St. NW to JBG Smith's 1666 K St. NW, where it is taking 15K SF.
The deal reflects the firm’s growth over the past five years, during which it expanded its employee base from around 35 to 100, and its desire to be located on the prominent K Street corridor.
“In this area, K Street still kind of means something,” Rational 360 Vice President Kesi Lumumba told Bisnow. “And so we are building our firm to be a bit more of that premier style and space.”
Meanwhile, employees are expected to be in the office three days a week, and Lumumba said the company realized it was “busting out of the seams.”
The firm plans to move in early January. It was represented by CBRE’s Chau Leung and Mary Catherine Fitzpatrick. D.C.-based interior architecture firm Sshape is designing the new space, and Pizzano Contractors is handling the construction.
LEASES
Skanska has opened a new office in Hyattsville, Maryland, the Stockholm-based developer announced. The office spans two floors totaling 12,500 SF at 7521 Jefferson Ave. The location will support the firm’s “ongoing civil projects” in the mid-Atlantic and bolster its capacity to pursue new infrastructure opportunities, it said. Skanska also has offices in Rockville, D.C., Fairfax County and Virginia Beach.
SALES
Elme Communities, formerly known as WashREIT, closed the sale of a $1.6B portfolio to Cortland this week. The then-pending sale of 19 properties was announced in August as part of Elme's plan to liquidate its assets. Sixteen of the properties are in the D.C. metro, and three are in the Atlanta area. With the closing, Elme also secured a $520M loan from Goldman Sachs. The loan matures in November 2026 and has a one-year extension option, and the firm plans to pay it back with the proceeds from selling the remaining buildings in its portfolio.
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Carr Properties purchased a 143K SF office building downtown that it plans to demolish and replace with a new 320-unit apartment building. The company announced the acquisition of 2121 Virginia Ave. NW last Friday, and deed records filed that day show it paid $23.5M for the property. The seller, Pan American Health Organization, was represented by Savills' Parker Lange, Vernon Knarr and Julie Rayfield. Demolition is expected to begin in the second quarter of next year.
MILESTONES
Fairstead broke ground Wednesday on a 207-unit affordable development in Alexandria that is replacing a 66-unit historic townhome community. The New York-based firm is replacing the Samuel Madden Homes public housing community, built in 1945, with the six-story building. Units will be reserved for families earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income.
Scheduled to deliver in the fall of 2027, the development will also include 7,500 SF of open space and a 500 SF food hub run by local nonprofit Alive. Fairstead preserves and upgrades affordable communities nationwide, and this project is its first ground-up development.
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The Washington Commanders this week announced the selection of architecture firm HKS to lead the design of a 65,000-seat stadium on the RFK Stadium site in D.C. The firm also designed Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. Vertical construction is expected to begin in 2027, with a projected opening in 2030.
FINANCING
D.C.-based Broad Creek Capital has closed on its first round of a $150M financing vehicle aimed at acquiring U.S. value-add multifamily properties. BCC Multifamily Advantage Fund I is anchored by a group of U.S. municipal institutions and family offices in the U.S. and Europe, the firm said. The second close is slated for early 2026. The fund is targeting $150M in total capital commitments.
Along with the announcement, the firm said it has closed on a 298-unit multifamily community in Charlotte for $94M, its first acquisition for the vehicle.
PERSONNEL
The Knutson Cos. has hired Amy Friedlander, previously with EYA, as vice president of acquisitions. The Brambleton, Virginia-based homebuilder said it is looking to expand its portfolio across the D.C. metro area, and it said Friedlander will “enhance its land acquisition strategy and development pipeline.” Friedlander was also a vice president of acquisitions at EYA. Before that, she was a land use planner at Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh.
