Lender Takes Over M Street Office Building: The D.C. Deal Sheet
Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer has now offloaded three D.C. office buildings within the last week.
The technology company founder handed over 2301 M St. NW, a 68K SF West End office building, to his lender, Fortress Investment Group, according to D.C. deed records and a source familiar with the deal.
The deed in D.C. records shows a price of $11.2M. But the source told Bisnow that the value represented the amount owed on the loan and that Schaeffer had defaulted in September.
Fortress and Schaeffer declined requests for comment.
This comes after Schaeffer sold two other office buildings over the past week: the 74K SF property at 1331 H St., which sold for $13.7M, and the 71K SF property at 1420 K St., which sold for $13.2M. The source said those represented short sales.
All three properties had been slated for foreclosure sales, all of which were postponed, at Alex Cooper Auctioneers in November.
Schaeffer purchased 2301 M St. NW in 2007 for $25.15M. Kaiser Permanente has a 44K SF lease at the building, which it extended in 2020 for nearly a decade. Breakfast cafe Bread & Chocolate and Life Alive Organic Cafe are on the ground floor.
LEASES
Baltimore-based Kneads Bakeshop is planting its first D.C.-area location in Chevy Chase. The bakery is opening a 2K SF location at Nuveen’s Shops at Wisconsin Place, replacing a space formerly occupied by Peet’s Coffee. It plans to open at 5400 Wisconsin Ave. in the second quarter of 2026. The bakery is a project from the next generation of the family behind H&S Bakery. KLNB’s Jenn Price, Kim Stein, Matt Skalet and Kelly Atkinson represented the landlord.
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The American Medical Association inked a 37K SF lease at Capitol Crossing, taking the entire ninth floor at 200 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The association is relocating from 5 Massachusetts Ave. NW, a building owned by Norges Bank that was constructed in 2006. It expects to make the move late next year.
JLL’s Nathan Beach, Evan Behr, Kristen Mathis and Anslee Krouch represented the landlord, Capitol Crossing Advisors, a subsidiary of W.R. Berkley Corp. Cushman & Wakefield’s Ned Goodwin and Art Santry represented AMA.
FINANCING
Drawbridge Realty is launching a $9M renovation of the 176K SF downtown D.C. office building that CoStar departed when it moved to Rosslyn. CoStar’s departure left 1331 L St. NW, which was built in 2008 and renovated in 2019, fully vacant. Planned upgrades include a redesigned lobby, new first-floor tenant lounge, new rooftop lounge, new first- and second-floor conference spaces and a ground-floor “hipster” coffee bar.
Drawbridge, which purchased the building in 2019 for $87M, is investing the capital itself with no debt on the building, a Drawbridge spokesperson told Bisnow. Lincoln Property Co. is marketing the office space.
SALES
BXP purchased the site of a 300K SF vacant office building in downtown D.C. that it plans to demolish to build a new office building for law firm Sidley Austin. The Boston-based REIT paid $55M for 2100 M St. NW, owned by AllianceBernstein. BXP plans to build a 320K SF office building in its place, 75% of which — or 240K SF — will be occupied by Sidley, which is set to make the move in 2031.
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JBG Smith bought a 360K SF office complex near Dulles International Airport this week, Bisnow first reported. Dulles View at 2551 and 2553 Dulles View Drive in Herndon were controlled by special servicer Greystone after it foreclosed on the buildings in early 2024 on behalf of CMBS bondholders. The price wasn't disclosed, and the sale has't been posted in Fairfax property records.
PERSONNEL
Colliers' D.C. office has brought on two brokers from Scheer Partners as senior vice presidents. The firm hired Katie Datin and Nathan Crowe, who both specialize in medical and office landlord services, it announced this week. The release said their additions will play a “key role” in its efforts to expand in suburban Maryland.
