STERLING, VA-Messier Services America, a subsidiary of the French aerospace manufacturer, has sold a 134,000-sf office/flex/manufacturing facility here to Arlington-based Altus Realty Partners, a consortium of real estate investors, for $10.2 million. Dan Gonzalez and Joshua Katz with Scheer Partners represented Messier.

The building, located at 45360 Severn Way, is on an 11-acre parcel off of Route 28 near the Route 7 interchange. It is a two-story building with 29,000 sf of office space and the balance divided between manufacturing and storage use, Katz tells GlobeSt.com.

A short-term sale-leaseback was part of the transaction. The additional time will allow the purchaser to pursue a renovation and a special exception for 100% office use, according to Katz. "When Messier's lease expires in early spring, the seller could be able to pursue a wider variety of users," he says. Messier is using the proceeds of the sale to invest in a manufacturing operation overseas.

At one time sale-leasebacks were limited to only high credit companies that were willing to sign long-term leases. That has changed over the last several years as property valuations have inspired buyers to become more flexible. Sellers, for their part, are taking advantage of the market to use the proceeds for various reasons, Katz says, such as investing in new operations.

He tells of two other similar transactions his firm has brokered along the Route 28 corridor in recent months: Pulsecom sold 2900 Towerview Rd. in Herndon, a 139,000-sf property and Electronic Instrument Technologies sold 108 Carpenter Dr., a 55,000-sf building. These two properties sold for an aggregate $20 million, he says.