Jemals Buy Historic Downtown Office Building After Foreclosure
The Jemal family is having a busy start to the year.
A day after Douglas Development Managing Principal Matthew Jemal moved to foreclose on a Dupont Circle office building whose loan he recently acquired, the company closed on the acquisition of another office building in downtown D.C.
A Douglas Development Corp. affiliate paid $20M for the historic Colorado Building at 1341 G St. NW, a 1920s-era office building two blocks from the White House, D.C. deed records show.
The D.C. development giant received a loan of the same amount for the acquisition from Colorado Springs-based Christian nonprofit WaterStone, according to public loan documents.
The seller, New York Life Insurance Co., had foreclosed on the building as well as two others owned by Japanese investor Unizo at the end of 2024, deed records show. The Colorado Building went to auction in December, and the lender won it with a $14.55M bid.
Unizo had acquired the building in 2017, paying $65.5M, according to D.C. deed records.
Douglas Development, New York Life and WaterStone didn't respond to requests for comment.
Douglas’ loan document for the purchase was signed by Matthew Jemal — son of Douglas Development founder Douglas Jemal — who has been behind a slew of recent deals under his new venture, Jemal Equities.
Jemal Equities purchased two D.C.-area office properties last year: 1750 H St. NW in the District for $28.8M and 1530 Wilson Blvd. in Ballston for $28M. It bought the loan to the 155K SF Lion Building, on which it is now moving to foreclose.
The Colorado Building, built in 1922, was designed by Ralph Townsend in an Italian Renaissance architectural style. The 133K SF building is known for its stonework depicting lions and eagles. Seafood and steak restaurant Ocean Prime sits on the ground floor.
The Jemals are known for their love of unique, historic buildings and have a predilection for rehabilitating them. Among the family's millions of square feet in the city are its redevelopments of the Hecht Warehouse in Ivy City, the Wonder Bread Factory in Shaw and the Uline Arena in NoMa.
