WASHINGTON, DC-First Potomac announced to the market earlier this year that it would be exiting the industrial asset class. True to its word, it has. (Technically, according to a spokeswoman, it still owns two industrial assets but it won't be making any more acquisitions in this sector).

We spoke with chief investment officer Nick Smith about the deal. Specifically, we wanted to know, is why now? Industrial is in a renaissance period with prices on the upswing. (Actually we think we just answered our own question about why). Still, the chat with Smith was very revealing, providing insight into where he sees the industrial market, at least in the Mid-Atlantic, trending, as well as office.

GlobeSt.com: So. Why the sale right now?

Smith: Frankly we have been pretty surprised by some of the prices people have been paying for industrial product. We wanted to take advantage of that. Also it is rare that a portfolio of this size comes to the market so that helped as well. In the end we were very pleased with the offer.

GlobeSt.com: You also announced at the beginning of the year that you would be focusing on office going forward. Are you planning any acquisitions now that the industrial sale is inked?

Smith: We don't have anything specific planned. We have been looking for the last six to nine months. That is one of the benefits of this decision – it really positions us to focus on what we have been doing for the last couple of years, which is invest in well-located office buildings.

GlobeSt.com: So nothing in the pipeline in terms of office acquisitions?

Smith: No, we just have to see what the summer and fall brings. Just because we are selling this large portfolio doesn't mean we are feeling the pressure to buy replacement properties.

GlobeSt.com: Would you consider expanding beyond your Mid-Atlantic footprint?

Smith: No. Actually we looked at that a few years ago and we came to the conclusion that we know this market so well that it doesn't make sense for us to start over in another region. And that was one of the benefits of existing the industrial market. The market is small enough that if we wanted to continue to grow we would have had to expand outside of the Mid-Atlantic. We would have found ourselves buying everything and anything that came to market, which is not a good strategy.