GAITHERSBURG, MD--Owners of suburban office assets seeking buyers are finding that while their properties might be obsolete as offices they do hold appeal as conversion projects, most typically for industrial or multifamily use.

That, at least, was the driver behind the Atlanta-based Columbia Property Trust's $49 million sale of its 40-acre complex at 800 North Frederick, which the REIT put on the market more than a year ago.

The 393,000-square-foot office building had been leased to IBM, but that expired on March 31st.

The buyer is SunCap Property Group, a real estate owner and developer based in Charlotte, NC, which plans to redevelop the building as a distribution center. The company has office, industrial and retail holdings in select markets around the US, including one industrial asset in Upper Marlboro, MD, that serves as a FedEx Ground Transportation facility. Many, but not all, of its industrial holdings have FedEx as an occupant.

As for Columbia, it intends to use the proceeds to pay down its revolving credit facility and continue to focus on its strategy shift of concentrating on CBD markets with high-barriers to entry.

For the District that means its Market Square holding, a 686,000-square-foot trophy office property located at 701 and 801 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, in which Columbia Property Trust sold a 49% stake to Blackstone Property Partners last year.

In the REIT's latest earnings call CEO Nelson Mills said that Market Square continues to make headway with a substantial increase in tours and proposals in recent months. (It had lost two tenants, Fulbright & Jaworski and Shearman & Sterling law firms, when their leases expired, leaving about 200,000 square feet of the building vacant).

Postscript on Baltimore Deal

And speaking of Columbia Property dispositions, Mills confirmed during that call that 100 East Pratt in Baltimore sold at the end of the first quarter, for gross proceeds of $187 million. That was generally in line with the company's expectations, Mills said, with a cap rate of 6.6.

“The depth of potential buyers was perhaps not as deep as we would have seen a year ago, but we were pleased with the outcome.”

The 393,000-square-foot office building had been leased to IBM, but that expired on March 31st.

As for Columbia, it intends to use the proceeds to pay down its revolving credit facility and continue to focus on its strategy shift of concentrating on CBD markets with high-barriers to entry.

Postscript on Baltimore Deal

“The depth of potential buyers was perhaps not as deep as we would have seen a year ago, but we were pleased with the outcome.”

Instant Insights /

SunCap Buys 393,000-SF Gaithersburg Office for $48M with Plans to Convert to Industrial

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