The family office of billionaire David Rubenstein has partnered on the acquisition of a Silver Spring garden-style apartment community.

Rockville-based The Donaldson Group, in partnership with Declaration Capital — Rubenstein's New York-based family office — and a fund managed by DRA Advisors, announced Tuesday the joint venture acquired the 592-unit Montgomery White Oak Apartments for $86.8M.

CBRE's Bill Roohan, Mike Muldowney, Brian Margerum and Martha Hastings represented the seller, Joncon Venture LLP. CBRE's Maxi Thiels Leachman and David Webb worked with the buyers to obtain acquisition financing from Freddie Mac.

The new owners plan to renovate the property to replace the heating and cooling system with high-efficiency pumps installed in each apartment to generate savings on utility costs.

The 28-acre community is about a mile from the White Oak Federal Research campus, where the Federal Drug Administration headquarters and the U.S. Army Research Lab are located. It also sits about a half-mile from a shopping center anchored by Giant and, for now at least, Sears.

Also in the neighborhood, Percontee is planning to build Viva White Oak, a $3B, 12M SF life sciences village. The project has been in the works for over a decade and the developer appears close to breaking ground. White Oak was among the areas in Montgomery County that a Sage Policy Group report last week said needs more infrastructure and other investment from the county to spur development.

"Montgomery White Oak is a well-located, well-constructed apartment community in a strong rental market," The Donaldson Group CEO Carlton Einsel said in a release. "We are extremely pleased to have executed this transaction with our partners at DRA Advisors and Declaration Capital, and we will continue to seek similar opportunities."