ROCKVILLE, MD-Dorsey Management Co., a Washington, DC-based real estate investment company, has acquired an industrial building here for $6.1 million. Occupied--for the moment--by the Food and Drug Administration, the single-tenant facility is one of the larger industrial buildings in this submarket. Transwestern’s Bob Filley, Gerry Trainor, Bob Filley and Jim Cardellicchio, brokered the deal.

Normally, this would be a stable investment for a company given the tenant. However, the FDA’s lease is up in mid-2011 and the government agency has been pulling its operations out of the Rockville market. The buyer is taking a gamble, agrees Filley, but it is still hopeful the FDA will renew for a short-term lease of five to seven years. "Even in the buildings where they are pulling out, they are still backfilling space for a few years," he tells GlobeSt.com. For example, a nearby building just inked such a lease with the FDA for 97,000 square feet, he says.

Another reason why the FDA might stay is that it will be difficult for it to find cheaper space than what the building, located at 12100 Parklawn Dr., is currently offering. "Basically, it is a below market rate," Filley says. Typically, industrial product in infill locations such as Rockville can command between $10 per square foot to $15 per square foot net, he says.