American University Buys Office Asset for $27M

WASHINGTON, DC-American University has acquired an eight-story, 88,000-square-foot office building in Northwest Washington for $27.1 million. It bought the building, at 4401 Connecticut Ave., from a related entity of Spectrum Partners LLC, controlled by Marc Solomon. Scott Frankel, David Ritchey, Bill Prutting, Jr. and Randall Helig of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction.

AU plans to use it to house its WAMU 88.5 FM the public radio station, which is licensed to the university, once renovations are complete. The seller ran an aggressive marketing campaign for the property, which is located near the UDC/Van Ness Metro station on the Red Line. American University’s Northwest campus is also located nearby—practically down the street—which no doubt was an important driver for scooping up the property. “It’s a strategic location for AU,” Prutting tells GlobeSt.com.

The building is largely vacant except for two retailers on the first floor, he adds. It was originally a multi-tenant office building. Later, the lower floors were converted to accommodate a charter school. AU plans to invest a significant amount of capital in its repositioning, Prutting says, although he does not know the exact figure. “It hopes to open the building by the end of the year.”

Given the capital investment that will be made, the price AU paid for the property could be seen as highly competitive, he adds. “This is a high-visibility neighborhood so buildings will command strong prices,” he says.

This is the second transaction Spectrum has made in the DC area in recent days. It also recently acquired, via a joint venture with Bernstein Management, an office/flex portfolio in Silver Spring for $31.1 million.

A privately held company, Spectrum is a JV of Finmarc Management and Kodiak Properties. Its retail, office and industrial assets are located in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania.