[IMGCAP(2)]Designed by architecture firm Pei Cobb Freed andPartners, the building houses Holland & Knight, the investmentbank Perseus, and Danaher, among other investment-grade tenants.The acquisition has brought the value of Vico Capital's propertyassets to more than $2 billion. It also fits in with its investmentcriteria of high-quality buildings in prime locations withcredit-worthy tenants, Brian O'Donnell says. "We hope that thiswill be the first of several trophy asset purchases in Washington,DC and elsewhere in the US this year as we continue to expand VicoCapital's world-class portfolio outside of our home markets," hesays in a prepared statement.

Other recent acquisitions by Vico Capital include Fatburen, the750,000-sf class A office building in Stockholm occupied by theSwedish government; Sanctuary Buildings, the largest officebuilding in Westminster, London occupied by the British Government;and 17 Columbus Courtyard and 15 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf,London, occupied by Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanleyrespectively.

At more than $800 per sf, this is one of the largesttransactions in the District for quite some time, Tonya Ginter,director of Research and Marketing at GVA Advantis tellsGlobeSt.com. Certainly it tops the investment trades for 2008. Theclosest contenders are ING Clarion Partners's acquisition of 111119th St. NW for $115 million andPembroke Real Estate's acquisition of two office buildings--1000and 1010 Vermont Ave.--for $63.6 million.Wealth Capital was advised by Lacy Ltd. Jones Lang LaSalle brokeredthe deal.