One Discovery Place Secures $97M
The financing will be used to reposition the soon-to-be vacant 478,130-square-foot trophy office building.
A joint venture between an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management and Foulger-Pratt have secured a $96.5 million floating-rate loan to reposition the soon-to-be vacant 478,130-square-foot One Discovery Place.
The two companies acquired the iconic office building in September.
JLL Senior Vice President Paul Spellman led the team arranging the financing. A US-based private lender provided the loan.
“There was a tremendous amount of competition for One Discovery Place, which was enhanced by the outstanding sponsorship,” according to Spellman. “This was a great financing case study, as we rarely see vacant building opportunities of this asset quality in the DC Metro.”
In early 2018, Discovery Communications announced it was relocating its corporate headquarters to New York City. In June, the international entertainment and media company reported it was signing a lease to occupy the entire 360,000-square-foot 230 Park Ave. office building in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. The company is expected to begin occupancy of the building in the fall of 2019.
That will leave One Discovery Place without a tenant. Located in the central business district of downtown Silver Spring, the office property is walking distance to the Metro, MARC and future Purple Line rail.The building, which delivered in 2004, was one of the first in the country to receive LEED Platinum certification and has consistently achieved an EnergyStar rating over 95.