A trophy office building The JBG Cos. delivered last year that sits two blocks from the White House could sell for a record price-per-square-foot for the D.C. region.
JBG and ICG Properties have agreed to sell 900 16th St. NW for $160M, or $1,250/SF, to a JV of Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank and Canadian private Oxford Properties, a subsidiary of Canadian pension fund OMERS, GlobeSt reports.
The sale comes in well above the previous record $1,083/SF sale of America Square in 2015. JLL's John Duffy brokered that deal when he was with Sage Capital Advisors. If the deal closes at the reported price, or anything close to it, he will break his own record; he is marketing 900 16th on behalf of JBG and ICG.
Norges Bank made its last major D.C. acquisition in September. In a JV with MetLife, Norges bought 3 and 4 Constitution Square in NoMa from StonebridgeCarras for $421.8M. The same duo also made a $505M acquisition in 2014 when they bought the Thurmond Arnold Building at 555 12th St. NW from Manulife Financial Corp.
JBG's decision to sell 900 16th comes as it continues to dispose of assets ahead of its merger with Vornado. The 127,600 SF trophy building was designed by famous New York architect Robert A.M. Stern and is anchored by law firm Miller & Chevalier. JBG's longtime strategy, a necessity because of its equity backers, has been to build and sell. One of the reasons for its desire to merge with a public company, incoming CEO Matt Kelly has said, is so it can own its buildings long term.
From its groundbreaking in spring 2014 to its delivery in January, 900 16th's construction was recorded by Work Zone Cam, which produced the following time-lapse video:
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