The sale price represents a 6.3% cash cap rate, with Vornado realizing a net gain of $41 million. It received net proceeds of approximately $90 million after repaying the existing construction loan and costs. The building delivered fully pre-leased to Mayer Brown LLC. Vornado will manage the property on behalf of the new owner.
The $830 per square foot sales price is reminiscent of the high water mark days when office buildings traded north of $500 per square foot. The peak of the market was reached in mid-2008 when another international investor--a private equity fund headed by Dublin-based principals--acquired CBD office 2099 Pennsylvania Ave. for $172.5 million, or over $800 per square foot. Indeed, data from the Association of Foreign Real Estate Investors suggest that foreign-based private equity and institution funds are focusing their resources on the DC area market.
The deal also adds to the growing ledger of closed trades here: other recent examples include the 570,038-square-foot Willow Oaks Corporate Center, which was acquired by KBS REIT II for $112 million and Potomac Center North, an office building in the city's SW quadrant that traded for an undisclosed amount.
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