WASHINGTON, DC—As we reported on Tuesday, Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT and Signature Office REIT are merging in a $3 billion stock-for-stock transaction. The office and industrial REIT will have a combined portfolio of 15.6 million square feet across 69 properties in 21 states. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2015.

Of the 13 or so assets trading from Signature REIT to Griffin Capital, two are in the Washington DC area. One is South Lake at Dulles Corner, a 268,200 square foot office located at 13820 Sunrise Valley Dr. in Herndon. It last traded in 2012 for $91.1 million. The other property is the Franklin Center Building, a 209,769-square foot office in Columbia, MD, located at 6841 Benjamin Franklin Dr. It last traded in 2011 for $65 million.

Other properties in the portfolio are located in Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Ohio.

"As we look forward to the next phase of our lifecycle, we believe the additional scale, diversity and operating efficiencies that our combined portfolios will garner is paramount in driving additional stockholder value in the future," says Kevin Shields, GCEAR's chairman and CEO. "Earlier this year we sold all of the remaining capital stock in our follow-on offering, and once we fully invest this equity, we expect our total capitalization to exceed $3 billion upon stabilization."

Signature's portfolio, acquired between late 2010 and 2012, is seen as "highly complementary" to GCEAR's existing portfolio. Currently at 13 million square feet, the GCEAR portfolio is primarily comprised of single-tenant net-leased office and industrial real estate assets that serve as key operating facilities for a roster that includes American Express, Coca-Cola, JP Morgan Chase and United Technologies.