The newest members of First Potomac's rapidly growing portfolioare located in Maryland's I-270 Corridor--which spans Rockville,North Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg andFrederick--with the exception of the one retail property in WestVirginia. Accounting for half the newly acquired portfolio areseven flex facilities totaling 700,000 sf, while three industrialproperties bring the total take up by an additional 370,000 sf. Athree-structure site accounts for 130,000 sf of office space, andthe one 200,000-sf retail destination brings the portfolio's tallyup to the 1.4-million-sf mark.

"The closing of this transaction establishes First Potomac as aleading owner and acquirer of flex and industrial properties in ourmarkets," First Potomac CEO Douglas J. Donatelli says. "Thistransaction will significantly increase our funds from operationsand is tremendously accretive to our earnings. We believe we willsee continued improvement in the operating results of theseproperties through our aggressive leasing and managementapproach."

While the US government is the leading tenant among FirstPotomac's properties, it does not have a large presence in thenewly acquired, 94% occupied Suburban Maryland portfolio. But thatis not seen as a drawback to the REIT. "We view that as anopportunity for us--getting more government tenants in thisportfolio," First Potomac's Barry Bass tells GlobeSt.com.