WASHINGTON, DC—Somerset Partners has closed on the sale of its CBD office, 1801 K St., NW, for $445 million. The Washington Business Journal first reported the sale had closed; GlobeSt.com independently confirmed the transaction with a source and also learned the building is trading at a 5% cap rate.
Rumors of the transaction first emerged in July 2014.
At $789 per square foot, the trade didn't breach the psychologically-satisfying $1,000 price point, but the deal is symbolic for another reason: the buyer is South Korea's Mirae Asset Financial Group.
At the start of the year, the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate reported that appetite for Washington DC was declining among its members.
Days later, though, JLL rebutted the findings, noting that DC foreign investment in office assets hit record-high levels in 2014--$2.1 billion. Within the District, foreign investment accounted for 53% of 2014 transaction volume, 35.6 percent above historical averages.
In fact, JLL's Bill Prutting Jr. told GlobeSt.com that two acquisitions were underway by foreign buyers, and that news about the transactions would likely be forthcoming.
JLL brokered the sale of the 563,795-square foot, 12-story building which Somerset renovated in 2010.
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