Rockefeller Group, Mitsubishi Buy D.C. Office Building for $180 Million

The Rockefeller Group and Mitsubishi Estate New York (MENY) have purchased a Washington D.C. office building from Tishman Speyer.

The purchase price was $180 million, or $518 per square foot, according to CoStar.

The property, 1100 First Street NE, is around 350,000 square feet and LEED Gold-certified. It is 95 percent leased, with tenants including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Mathematica Policy Research.

Tishman Speyer developed the building in 2009. It was designed by architect Krueck & Sexton and is located in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, D.C., a mixed-use district of 31 blocks. The building's features include a tenant fitness center and access to public transit through the nearby Union Station.

As landlords have flocked to major U.S. cities, which currently have the lowest office vacancy rates, competition for the properties on the sales market has increased.

This transaction is consistent with The Rockefeller Group's announced strategy to seek well located, premier office assets in constrained markets which are experiencing strong economic recoveries, said Kevin R. Hackett, president and CEO of Rockefeller, in a statement.. This is our second asset purchase in the Washington, D.C. market and we are considering additional Class A office buildings in New York, Boston, and San Francisco on behalf of our shareholders and investors.

1100 First Street is an excellent addition to our portfolio, said Masato Kawasaki, executive vice president of MENY, in a statement. Mitsubishi Estate New York continues to look for investment opportunities in major markets across the US.

Rockefeller and Mitsubishi also partnered in March to purchase 1101 K Street NW, a 291,480-square-foot building near the City Center redevelopment project in Washington, D.C.

Real estate brokerage Eastdil Secured represented Tishman, while the buyers were represented in-house.