WASHINGTON, DC-More than a year ago, during the depth of theinvestment sale freeze here, 1501 M St. traded for $60million and a 8% cap rate. The sale was among ahandful that gave the market hope that a recovery was in theoffing. Indeed, that trade did appear to break the ice and slowlyothers began to follow suit.

Now, the CBD/East End building has sold again, for $79 millionand a 6.9% cap, a source tells GlobeSt.com. This time, though,market participants would be wise not to read too much into thosenumbers. The partial ground lease in place took much of the riskoff the hands of the buyer, therefore driving up the salesprice.

Last week, the John Buck Cos.’ JBC Opportunity Fund III sold the11-story, 177,525-square foot Downtown building to institutionalinvestors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Bill Collins,Paul Collins, Drew Flood, Jud Ryan and James Cassidy of CassidyTurley represented the seller.