Developers Buy Benning Road Site For 109-Unit Project: The D.C. Deal Sheet
An affordable housing development partnership has secured the land half a block from the Benning Road Metro station where it plans to build over 100 housing units.
Marshall Heights Community Development Organization acquired the 26K SF parcel at 4401-4435 Benning Road at the end of December for $5.4M, according to D.C. property records.
NRP filed plans in 2022 and received approval from D.C.’s Zoning Commission to build a 109-unit affordable development at the site.
An NRP spokesperson confirmed to Bisnow that the developer is partnering with MHCDO to develop the project.
The developer didn't share details on its financing, but deed records show a number of loans, including one in mid-December from the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development for $26M and another for $43.7M from the D.C. Housing Finance Agency.
Feldman Ruel represented the sellers, Ilya Zusin and Daniel Mermel, and the firm announced on LinkedIn this week that the transaction closed.
“I’m glad to have played a small part in this transaction that will bring 100+ units of class A affordable housing to the District,” Feldman Ruel co-founder Ian Ruel said in a statement to Bisnow. “I’m hoping this gives more confidence to both local and national affordable housing developers that these type of transactions can get done in Washington, DC. in the future.”
LEASES
Global Energy law firm Bracewell renewed its 53K SF West End office lease last quarter, according to brokerage Q4 reports. The firm is located at Brookfield’s 2001 M St. NW, which totals 285K SF. It was the building’s first major tenant when it delivered on spec in 2015.
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COPT Defense Properties inked a deal to build a 110K SF build-to-suit facility for the University of Maryland’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security. The project at 4400 River Road in College Park’s Discovery District is expected to begin this quarter and deliver in Q2 2027. It’s an expansion for UMD’s ARLIS, which already has a presence in the district. COPT says it is committing $65M to the project.
FINANCING
Post Brothers landed financing for its more than 500-unit office-to-residential conversion near Dupont Circle. The Philadelphia-based developer received a record $465.3M C-PACE loan from Nuveen Green Capital and a $96.65M loan from Mavik Capital Management — a refinance of a prior loan — for its conversion of the Universal complex on Connecticut Avenue, Bisnow first reported this week. The total development cost is expected to be $750M, The Wall Street Journal later reported.
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LaSalle Investment Management announced it made a $250M equity investment in a $1.6B multifamily portfolio mostly concentrated in the D.C. area that Cortland bought in November. The investment gives LaSalle a 34% equity stake in the 19-property portfolio located in D.C., Northern Virginia and Atlanta, it announced this week. Cortland had purchased the 6,000 units from Elme Communities, formerly WashREIT, which is in the process of liquidating.
SALES
Johns Hopkins purchased an office building near its massive D.C. campus through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transaction, according to D.C. deed records filed Friday. It paid $34.9M for the 151K SF building at 633 Indiana Ave. NW. The building has housed the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, which has a lease expiring later this year. The university anticipates “significant renovations" and said the purchase was funded through a “combination of institutional funds and philanthropy,” according to the Washington Business Journal, which first reported the deal.
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Silverman Group purchased a $203M D.C.-area industrial portfolio, Newmark, which arranged the off-market sale, announced. The brokerage represented an “undisclosed group of sellers” in the transaction, which totals nearly 1.4M SF across around 50 buildings. The properties are in Capitol Heights, Glen Burnie, Hyattsville, Laurel, Forestville, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Frederick, Beltsville, Greenbelt, Upper Marlboro, Fairfax, Manassas and Chantilly. They are home to about 600 tenants.
Newmark’s Ben McCarty, Cris Abramson and Nicholas Signor represented the sellers, and the brokerage’s Henry Pleszkochand and Sam Slater supported the transaction.
MILESTONES
WMATA selected Atlantic Pacific Cos. as the developer for a 320-unit affordable project next to the Capitol Heights Metro station in Prince George’s County. The $140M development is set to be built on the 3.8-acre parking lot next to the station, which sits on the Blue Line. Units will be reserved for residents making up to 60% of the area median income.
PERSONNEL
Architecture firm Gensler promoted JJ Rivers to lead its D.C. office. Rivers was appointed co-managing director after serving as a principal and studio director for the D.C. office. He will serve alongside Kimberly Sullivan, who has co-led the office since 2024. Rivers is replacing Francisco Gonzalez, who is transitioning to co-regional managing principal of the firm’s southeast region — a role also based in D.C.
