WASHINGTON, DC—Recently-formed ETRE REIT is officially listed on NASDAQ following its February filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. The stock, ECAV, has not begun trading because pricing is not yet set, but according to its IPO page, the share price will clock in between $14 and $16 per unit.  At the midpoint of the proposed range, the REIT IPO proceeds would come in at around $56 million.

The REIT is not able to speak with reporters at this stage. Pricing is expected to be set the week of May 12.

Its filings and road show materials, though, make for interesting reading. The New York City-based REIT is trying out a new business model in which its individual commercial real estate properties will be held by a separate property-owning subsidiary owned by a separate series of limited liability company interests, or Series.

Each Series will be taxed as a separate REIT.

Washington DC will be the site of its first offering, Series A-1, which will give investors an indirect interest in 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, a building that a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty Corp. is selling to ETRE for approximately $85.1 million. "Substantially concurrently with the completion of this offering, we expect the Property A-1 Subsidiary to complete the acquisition of the Property," the REIT said in its road show materials.

In these same materials the REIT also noted it is employing "a novel business model, which may make an investment … difficult to evaluate as it is unique to the real estate industry."

The plan, though, as described in its marketing materials seems straightforward enough. As of December 2013 the property was 86.7% leased. With JLL as the property manager it intends to lease up the building.

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.