Watergate Office Building Trades Hands For $52.5M
One of the infamous Watergate buildings on the banks of the Potomac River has a new owner.
Elme Communities, a REIT that is in the process of liquidating, has sold its last remaining office building: Watergate 600.
Local family office Jetset Hospitality LLC purchased the semicircular building that weighs in at 309K SF for $52.5M, or $170 per SF, according to filings with the D.C. recorder of deeds.
The property is 80% leased, Stream Realty Managing Director Matt Pacinelli, who represented Jetset in the acquisition, told Bisnow. His team has been retained to market the building's 125K SF of availability across four contiguous floors.
Elme’s predecessor, WashREIT, had paid $135M for the office building in 2017, deed records show. Elme Communities didn't respond to a request for comment.
Jetset secured a $28.5M loan from Symetra Life Insurance Co. along with the deal, according to deed records, which said $13.8M of the loan was for the acquisition and $14.7M is for "future construction." Pacinelli said the latter portion will be used for things like building enhancements and tenant improvements.
The Watergate acquisition was executed as part of a 1031 exchange, Pacinelli said, meaning the buyer is using the capital gains from another sale to purchase the property, allowing it to defer the taxes on those gains.
In this case, Jetset’s gains came from its sale of 25 E St. NW, a 50K SF office building, to the D.C. government, which is operating it as a homeless shelter.
Jetset, led by Fabrice Souchaud, also owns two early 1900s-era boutique hotels in the District it purchased in 2009: the Windsor Inn Hotel and the Dupont Circle Embassy Inn By Found.
“They have historically invested in hospitality assets in the region, thus the name, but they see office as an attractive investment asset in today's capital markets environment,” Pacinelli said.
Elme Communities changed its name from WashREIT in 2022 after selling nearly $1B of office and retail in a shift to multifamily. In February 2025, Elme said it was exploring a sale, and in August, it announced it was liquidating.
The REIT said it had come to a deal to sell two-thirds of its portfolio to Atlanta-based Cortland — 19 multifamily properties for $1.6B in cash — and that it would put the rest of its assets up for sale, including Watergate 600.
The office building is on the opposite side of the Watergate complex from the building where the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters occurred. That building at 2600 Virginia Ave. NW sold in 2019 to investor Brian Friedman for $101.5M.
In addition to Pacinelli, Jetset Hospitality LLC was represented by Stream’s Charlie Smiroldo and Lukas Stanat. JLL represented Elme.
Stream will lease and manage the property. Stream’s leasing team is made up of Pacinelli, Tim McCarty, John Klinke and Josh McDonald.
