However, starting in 2010, Bibby foresees a wave of investment for the DC market--at least on behalf of Grosvenor. The city and its surrounding submarkets are on the top of Bibby's list of strong markets in which he wants to invest. "I could easily see us investing $200 million over a five-year period here," he says. "I don't think right now is the best time to buy, but as loans come due and owners come under more stress there will be opportunities to buy properties we like."

The only other city where Grosvenor might make a similar investment would be San Francisco, he says. "Other cities, it would be harder to justify." Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle are other places in which Grosvenor might invest, he adds.

The DC portfolio includes offices in the District--1701 Pennsylvania Ave., 500 K St.--as well as holdings in Alexandria, VA, and Silver Spring, MD.

Bibby makes his comments as the company releases figures about its performance in 2008: Not surprisingly, the international property group did not have a good year, reporting a total return on property assets of negative 4.1%, or negative 8.6% at constant exchange rates. It had a pretax loss of $879 million (£593.9 million) in 2008 compared with a profit of $775.6 million (£524 million) the previous year. This excludes currency benefits of $450 million (£304 million), which are taken in reserves.