This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
Washington Property Co. has sold for $64M an apartment building it developed in 2014 near the Westfield Wheaton Mall.
The 232-unit Solaire apartment community sold to 29th Street Capital, the buyer announced Thursday. It said it plans to renovate the units and amenity areas and rebrand the property to Maven at Wheaton.
The buyer didn't disclose the price, and it hasn't yet posted in deed records, but WPC's Quinn Rounsaville told Bisnow it was $64M. Berkadia's Brian Crivella, Walter Coker, Bill Gribbin and Yalda Ghamarian represented WPC in the deal.
The six-story building, developed in 2014, is one of several Solaire-branded apartment projects WPC has built in the area. Its amenities include a fitness center, a community room, a courtyard with grills and an outdoor pool.
"The sale of Solaire 10914 Georgia represents the culmination of WPC’s business plan in Wheaton," Rounsaville said in a statement. "We are extremely proud of the value we created in our development and the positive impact it continues to have on the Wheaton community."
Chicago-based 29th Street Capital, founded in 2009, made its first D.C.-area acquisition in 2021 with the $82M purchase of a 240-unit apartment property in Alexandria. The company's in-house property management firm, Haven Residential, is managing both properties.
“We look forward to executing on our business plan and continuing to expand in the Washington DC region," 29th Street Capital Senior Vice President Brian Berry said in a statement.
LEASES
Comstock Partners landed two new 10-year office leases at Reston Station. The developer announced this week it signed CACI International to a 41K SF lease and Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory to a 35K SF deal. The tenants signed on at 11400 and 11440 Commerce Park Drive, a pair of buildings Comstock acquired in 2019 as part of its efforts to expand Reston Station. Both are relocating their offices from buildings nearby.
The owners of the newly renovated Franklin Square office building in Downtown D.C. landed a 19.5K SF lease with the Disabled Veterans of America, Avison Young announced this week. The deal is one of seven leases totaling 140K SF the owners — a partnership of Nuveen Real Estate and Norges Bank — have signed over the last 18 months to bring the 485K SF building to 95% leased.
The other deals at Franklin Square include new leases with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the Bank Policy Institute, Greenpeace, Nuveen parent company TIAA-CREF, and lease renewals with the American Public Transportation Association and the American Water Works Association. Avison Young's Will Stern, Eli Barnes, Lauryn Harris and Alston Offutt manage leasing for the building. Its recent renovation, designed by Hickok Cole Architects, added a new three-story glass entrance, a conference facility, fitness center and bike room.
***
Government contractor Amentum is shifting its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland, to Chantilly, Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. The move comes after Amentum last year acquired government contractor PAE Inc. It is shifting its headquarters to an office it already leased, a 45.6K SF space at 4800 Westfields Blvd., an Amentum spokesperson told Bisnow. The company isn't expanding its space, but Youngkin's announcement said it is investing $495K and creating 157 new jobs with the move.
***
A new veteran-owned brewery signed an 8K SF lease at 650 Corporate Drive, an industrial building owned by Merritt Properties at the Merritt Business Park at Quantico Corporate Center in Stafford County, the Washington Business Journal reported. Full Distance Brewing, slated to open this spring, is near the Marine Corps' Quantico training base and is geared toward beer drinkers who enjoy athletic endurance activities.
SALES
Chuck Kuhn paid $57M for a 31-acre industrial property in Gainesville, Virginia. Kuhn, the CEO of JK Moving Services, plans to build additional warehouse space on the sites he acquired at 14201 and 14251 John Marshall Highway and 7350 and 7411 Gallerher Road, the Washington Business Journal reported. The seller, affiliates of Chalmers Property Co., were represented by CBRE's Bo Cashman and Jonathan Beard.
FINANCING
Amazon provided $20M in financing to Banneker Ventures for the construction of a 193-unit affordable housing project at the Addison Road Metro station in Prince George's County. The loan, coming from the tech giant's $2B Housing Equity Fund, is the latest in a series of affordable housing deals Amazon has closed in the region.
The affordable units in Banneker's project are set aside for those making between 40% and 60% of the area median income. The project, branded Park Place, will also have 11K SF of retail. Torti Gallas + Partners designed the project, and a partnership of construction firms Blue Skye and Coakley Williams is building it.
PERSONNEL
Todd Hartman resigned from his position as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Corporate Office Properties Trust, the company revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The Columbia, Maryland-based firm said it subsequently entered into an agreement with Hartman under which he will provide consulting services for the next 12 months for $585K. It didn't disclose a reason for the move. Hartman joined COPT in November 2020 from Ivanhoé Cambridge.
***
Jamie Weinbaum was named CEO of D.C.-area multifamily developer Horning. Weinbaum previously served as executive vice president at MidCity and has also worked at Ditto Residential, JBG Cos. and the D.C. government. He told Bisnow Monday he sees opportunities to redevelop some of Horning's multifamily properties across the D.C. region.
MILESTONES
Developer PRP completed the conversion of an office building into 212 apartments at 4900 Seminary Road in Alexandria, it announced Monday. The building, branded The Sinclaire on Seminary, has an outdoor lounge with firepits, bocce courts and a dog park, plus ground-floor retail.
The property is one of two buildings in the Mark Center complex that PRP acquired for $40M in 2018 after they went through foreclosure. It is one of several Alexandria office buildings that have been converted to apartments in recent years, a trend that has spread to the District.
"The Sinclaire on Seminary represents a perfectly executed adaptive reuse project," PRP President Paul Dougherty said in a release. "The office building was a highly efficient and optimal candidate for conversion given its rectangular shape, narrow bays, high ceiling heights and our low basis, all requisites for successful conversions."
