WASHINGTON, DC-Brookfield Office Properties inked a 91,000-square foot lease with Georgetown University at 650 Massachusetts Ave., NW. The university’s School of Continuing Studies will occupy the space, bringing with it more than 1,000 students to the new campus as well. The lease brings the building to 97% occupancy—and within a matter of weeks it will be fully occupied, SVP Greg Meyer tells GlobeSt.com. "The remaining 3% will be leased by a restaurant,” he says. Brookfield has made admirable traction with the eight-story, 317,000-square-foot building: when it acquired it in 2010 it was only 72% occupied. 

Brookfield was represented internally by Dave Bevirt, Simon Carney and John Landry in the Georgetown University lease. They were assisted by Transwestern’s Tom Hilley, Mark Richardson and Jeff Gross. Laurie McMahon, Brian Daly and Stephanie Heffernan of Cassidy Turley represented Georgetown. Now that 650 Massachusetts Ave. is in hand, the company is turning its attention to its newest East End acquisition at 799 9th St., NW, which it acquired for $106 million at the end of June.

In general Brookfield is focusing more heavily on the East End part of town. "We believe this part of the city will succeed disproportionately," Meyer says. "There is a shifting of the center of gravity to the East End, much of which is driven by CityCenter’s development." A 10-story, LEED Gold-certified building that of 203,000 square feet of rentable space, 799 9th St., is about to be vacated by its government tenant. Brookfield is planning a renovation of more than $10 million to create an 'A plus' class building, Meyer says. "This building is a great opportunity and we feel fortunate that we were the winning bidder."