PaineWebber Leases Top Two Floors of Investment Building

PaineWebber has signed for 51,057 sf in the Investment Building, a redevelopment project at 15th and K streets NW. The financial services company will occupy the top two floors of the 12-story structure, say officials at the Kaempfer Co., a Washington development firm. A new building is being raised behind the Investment Building’s original façade, which dates back to 1924.

The 375,000-sf project, estimated to cost up to $120 million, is scheduled for completion in August 2001. The law firm Sidley & Austin will occupy more than half the building.

Office tenants absorbed more than two million sf in Washington during the first half of the year, shaving the vacancy rate to 3.9%, according to research firm Delta Associates. That is the lowest vacancy rate the city has ever seen, and one of the lowest in the country.