Washington Real Estate Investment is going all in on apartment communities, selling virtually all of its D.C. office and retail properties.
D.C.-based Washington REIT has reached an agreement to sell its office portfolio to a Brookfield Asset Management private real estate fund for $766 million. It includes 12 office buildings spread across the District, Arlington, Alexandria and Tysons, totaling 2.4 million square feet.
It has also signed a separate agreement to sell its remaining eight retail properties to an unnamed buyer. Its retail properties include Spring Valley Village and Chevy Chase Metro Center in D.C., and Montrose Shopping Center in Rockville, Maryland. Both portfolio sales are expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
Washington REIT will use the proceeds of the sales to expand its multifamily holdings through acquisitions in Southeast U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, and to repay outstanding debt.
It currently owns about two dozen apartment communities in the D.C. metro area.
After the sales are complete, Washington REIT will still own one office building at the Watergate, though it intends to sell that building, too.
Washington REIT is one of the largest real estate investment trust companies in the D.C. area, with $294 million in revenue last year.
