A new chapter in the saga of 2100 M St. NW has begun.
The 1960s-era office building in the West End that Post Brothers purchased for a residential conversion in 2023 is headed back to its lender. AllianceBernstein cast the sole bid of $20.1M for the vacant, 300K SF building at a foreclosure auction Thursday morning.
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It was the second time 2100 M was offered up at a foreclosure auction at Alex Cooper Auctioneers, but the first time the lender came away with the property.
In the same room just three months ago, Post Brothers cast the winning bid, putting up $60M for the property and beating out AllianceBernstein, which bid $59.5M, the Washington Business Journal reported at the time.
Per the terms of the first auction, Post Brothers was required to put down $3M, or 5% of its bid price, within two days of the auction, and the remainder within 30 days.
But the Post Brothers deal never closed, and AllianceBernstein filed another foreclosure notice last month and scheduled the second auction.
At Thursday's auction, attorneys for the lender were joined by about a dozen spectators in a small room in upper Northwest D.C. After a 10-minute speed-reading of the terms of sale, auctioneer Paul Cooper called for offers.
AllianceBernstein's $20.1M offer was the only bid cast.
Post Brothers didn't respond to requests for comment. The lender's attorneys declined to comment.
Post Brothers had purchased 2100 M in May 2023 for $66.8M, with AllianceBernstein providing a loan for the same amount. The loan had a $77.9M balance as of last month's filing.
The Philadelphia-based developer received approval from D.C. planning officials to convert the property into 400 residential units, a renovation that would add five stories and a habitable penthouse. The building sits in between Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom, an area with a greater mix of uses than other parts of downtown, such as residential, hotels, restaurants and the George Washington University campus.
Founded in 2006, Post Brothers has developed 30 properties totaling 8,000 apartment units and 700K SF of office and retail over its lifetime, according to its website. The vast majority of those are in its hometown of Philadelphia.
The developer entered the D.C. market in 2022 when it purchased the Universal Buildings in Dupont Circle for a residential conversion. Its plan to turn the mid-century properties at 1825 and 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW into 525 apartment units received one of the city’s first three Housing in Downtown tax abatements in September.
In January, Post Brothers asked D.C. zoning officials for a two-year extension on that project, citing difficulty obtaining financing. It received approval for the extension in March.
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