A 12-story, 191,358-square-foot office building located at thecorner of 18th and K Streets, the lender liked both the locationand the strong tenant, according to Cassidy Turley. The deal isillustrative of the growing appetite for DC assets by lifeinsurance companies--a lender community that last year investedprimarily to protect their portfolios. This year, though, there areclear indications they are increasing allocations to real estatewith an eye toward growth, however incremental.

For example, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage recentlyrefinanced a multifamily project in Fairfax, VA, calledProvidence Apartments.Although their appetite, anecdotally atleast, appears to be more for multifamily properties, there aregrowing instances of life insurers investing in DC officeproperties as well. For example, 1801 L St., an office building inthe CBD that is 95% occupied by the Treasury Department, secured $34 millionwith a fixed-rate, long-term loan provided by a lifeinsurer.