NKF Selected to Market 17-Asset Multifamily Portfolio
The firm is representing Washington Intern Student Housing Foundation in the sale of its Washington DC portfolio.
WASHINGTON DC – Newmark Knight Frank has been selected to exclusively represent ownership in marketing the 17-property, Washington Intern Student Housing portfolio.
The portfolio comprises a collection of apartment buildings, townhomes and rowhomes that the WISH Foundation has acquired throughout the past 30 years in effort to offer students a safe place to live in the nation’s capital.
“In the late 1990’s my husband and I realized that there were all these students coming to DC who didn’t have money for food or the metro, so we started acquiring properties offering affordable housing where they’d pay no more than what they were charged back in their hometowns,” states Jackie Lewis of the WISH Foundation. “We bought prime properties because we had safety concerns for the students and found we didn’t need to charge a lot in rent as we were able to leverage the appreciation of the properties as a way to subsidize their rents.”
Encompassing 122 units across 17 buildings, the WISH portfolio features a range of traditional multifamily buildings and single-unit properties. Each of the properties are located in Washington DC’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, aside from one property in Chinatown. An additional 38-unit property is being offered separate from the portfolio, located at 2807 Connecticut Ave. in Woodley Park.
The properties, under the ownership of the Lewis’s, have housed more than 25,000 students in Washington DC.
Newmark Knight Frank’s vice chairman, Christine Espendshade and senior managing director, Lisa Benjamin are representing the owners in the offering.
“The WISH portfolio provides investors multiple options including turn-key housing solutions, co-living, corporate housing or short stay furnished apartments in addition to operating the properties as luxury rental or for-sale housing,” says Benjamin.
The proceeds of the portfolio’s sale will be used by the foundation to provide university scholarships and donations to students in need.
The master-lease structure of the WISH portfolio offers a buyer the ability to avoid delays and uncertainty due to the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for investors to acquire a portfolio of scale in Washington’s most prestigious locations for luxury multifamily, condominium conversions or co-living,” states Espenshade. “The history of these assets and the care that has been taken to preserve their place in the neighborhoods is invaluable.”
