WRE Completes Sale of MD Office Portfolio for $111.5M

DC-based Washington REIT confirmed that it has completed the previously announced sale of a suburban Maryland office portfolio for aggregate sales proceeds of $111.5 million. Brookfield Property Partners has acquired the portfolio, which includes the Wayne Plaza and 600 Jefferson Plaza as well as 6110 Executive Boulevard and West Gude Drive. Washington REIT was represented by Cushman & Wakefield in the deal; Brookfield's agents were not disclosed, nor were terms of the sale. The company indicated earlier this year that it planned to unload its Maryland office assets as part of a capital allocation strategy; Washington REIT's two remaining buildings in the area are also under contract to be sold, expecting to close in the third quarter.

"We have successfully executed the first tranche of this previously announced strategic milestone," said Paul McDermott, President and Chief Executive Officer of Washington REIT. "The sale is a part of our recent capital allocation out of low-barrier suburban office and into value-add, urban in-fill, multifamily with higher growth potential, lower leasing capital requirements and greater cash-flow stability."

"This sale is part of Washington REIT's ongoing migration out of suburban offices and into more urban assets," added Paul Collins, Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman. "The heavily multi-tenanted nature of these assets along with the repositioning opportunity is an ideal fit for Brookfield, which has an excellent track record with these types of assets."

6110 Executive Boulevard in Rockville is a 10 story, 218,144 square foot office building originally constructed in 1970 and awarded an Energy Star label in 2015 for its operating efficiency. West Gude Drive in Shady Grove at 20, 30, 40, and 50 West Gude Drive offers 288,491 square feet of space in close proximity to Shady Grove metro station, I-270 and new InterCounty Connector (ICC). Wayne Plaza in Silver Spring is a 9 story office building with over 99,000 square feet of space. 600 Jefferson Plaza in Rockville was built in 1985 with 113,035 square feet of space over five floors. The portfolio was 90% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including Comcast, George Washington University, State of Maryland, Montgomery County, Federal Realty Investment Trust, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, KAI Research, Inc., Research Triangle Institute and Lockheed Martin.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Maryland Office Portfolio Trades for $240M

Rockville, Maryland-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRE) announced that it has sold all six of its suburban Maryland office properties for $240 million in two separate contracts to an affiliate of Brookfield Property Partners. The REIT retained Cushman & Wakefield to market its suburban portfolio holdings at the beginning of the year, shifting its focus to urban, Metro-accessible sites in Greater Washington. In a press release on Q1 financials, WRE said it expects the transactions to close in Q2 and Q3 of 2016, and that it is also under contract to sell a parcel of land at Dulles Station in nearby Herndon, Virginia.

Properties in the portfolio include:

6110 Executive Boulevard, 10-story 202,000 square foot office building in Rockville

One Central Plaza at 11300 Rockville Pike, a 267,000 square foot 13-story office building (acquired by WRE for $44M in 2001)

600 Jefferson Plaza in Rockville at 5 stories tall with 113,000 square feet of space

The West Gude Drive complex at 20, 30, 40, 50 West Gude Drive, 277,000 square feet over 5 stories

The 21-story 51 Monroe Street office building with 223,000 square feet of space

and Wayne Plaza at 962 Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring with 99,000 square feet over 9 floors

Washington REIT CEO Paul McDermott had said during the October 2015 earnings call that the properties had significant upside for buyers willing to invest in them. West Gude, for example, is "definitely a sales candidate that has opportunity to it," while "600 Jefferson would probably be another opportunity for someone else to improve and allocate capital to, same with Wayne Plaza." Earlier this month, WRE placed a nine-story, fully leased office building on the market that serves global headquarters for Booz Allen Hamilton and is near the Greensboro Metro Station in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.