BETHESDA, MD-Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (NYSE, TSX: BPO) has acquired Three Bethesda Metro Center here for $150.1 million. The seller was the Meridian Group, which was represented by HFF's Jim Meisel, Dek Potts, Andrew Weir, Steve Conley and real estate analyst Jessica Dickinson. Brookfield owns the nearby Bethesda Crescent, making this acquisition very complementary, SVP for the Washington region Greg Meyer tells GlobeSt.com. “That building has smaller floorplates,” Meyer says, “and what has been happening is that when tenants outgrow that space they like the area so much they want to stay and they often move to Three Bethesda Metro.”

Three Bethesda Metro Center is a 17-story, 368,400-square-foot class A office. It has a 16-story interior atrium and a 1,300-space underground parking garage. It is 93% leased with asking rates in the mid-40s per square foot, full service. According to Meyer, the submarket is poised to do well in the coming year because the space that financial firms sublet during the recession has finally been absorbed. “Bethesda is metro-centric, amenity-rich and supply constrained,” he says. “Now that this space has been absorbed we expect to see much more activity here.”