Washington, D.C. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the sale of a portfolio of eight infill neighborhood retail assets totaling 695,991 square feet in Washington, D.C., northern Virginia and southern Maryland.
Stephen Conley, Danny Finkle, Jordan Lex and Kim Flores of JLL represented the D.C.-based seller, WashREIT (NYSE: WRE), which sold the portfolio for $168.3 million. The buyers were Rosenthal Properties and an undisclosed institutional partner, according to the Washington Business Journal. The news outlet also reports the seller had acquired the eight properties over the span of five decades.
The portfolio includes two properties in Washington, D.C., two in Northern Virginia and four in Maryland. The properties in D.C. include Chevy Chase Metro Center and Spring Valley Village. The Virginia properties are 800 S. Washington St. in Alexandria and Concord Centre in Springfield. The southern Maryland properties are Montrose Shopping Center and Randolph Shopping Center in Rockdale; Takoma Park Shopping Center in Takoma; and Westminster Shopping Center in Westminster.
The properties are 82 percent leased collectively. Four of the shopping centers are grocery-anchored by stores such as Mom’s Organic Market at Montrose Shopping Center and Aldi at Springfield’s Concord Centre. Other grocery anchors include Food Lion and Giant.
The Spring Valley Village property features retailers such as Crate&Barrel, Compass Coffee, Capital One, Bank of America and Starbucks Coffee. The Takoma Park Shopping Center is a 106,697-square-foot asset with retailers such as Sky Nails, Allstate Insurance, Wendy’s and Lucky Beer & Wine. Some of the properties also have national retailers such as Michaels, Mattress Firm, Planet Fitness, Dollar Tree, Rite Aid and Chick-fil-A.
“The D.C. Metro area has long been a recession-resistant gateway market,” says Jordan Lex, senior director of JLL Capital Markets. “However, booming tech and life sciences sectors in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland, respectively, have made well-positioned suburban retail in more demand than ever.”
The buyer, Rosenthal Properties, wants to increase and upgrade the tenancy percentage at the properties as well as enhance the properties with capital improvements, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Rosenthal Properties is a Washington, D.C.-based commercial real estate company that focuses on retail, office and industrial properties in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. In August, Rosenthal Properties, in a joint venture partnership, purchased a 14-building industrial portfolio from Finmarc Management Inc. for $104.2 million.
WashREIT is a multifamily real estate investment trust. The company is currently in the process of selling off its retail and office assets to transform into a pure-play multifamily REIT. In August, WashREIT sold a 12-property office portfolio in metro D.C. and Virginia for $766 million. JLL arranged the sale of the 2.3 million-square-foot portfolio. The transactions leave WashREIT with just one property that is not multifamily — Watergate 600, an office building in Washington, D.C.
WRE’s stock price opened at $25.09 per share on Friday, Sept. 24, up from $19.33 one year ago.
— Julia Sanders