District-based Rock Creek Property Group has closed on two Washington-area acquisitions, more than a year after closing a $21 million investment fund to acquire Class B and Class C properties in the region.
Rock Creek paid $4.7 million, or about $167 per square foot, for a 28,700-square-foot building at 1100 16th St. NW, which it plans to gut and convert into a Class A office headquarters building. It also paid $4.1 million, or about $57,746 per unit for a 71-unit apartment community called Juniper Gardens at 7700-7730 Eastern Ave. NW and 815-825 Juniper St. NW.
Rock Creek bought both of the properties through its Rock Creek Fund I Investors LLC, which it closed in April 2010 with an eye toward buying or striking joint ventures worth between $5 million and $20 million.
The company acquired 1100 16th St. through a foreclosure auction held by Cardinal Bank. Rock Creek Partner Gary Schlager said he expects the building will be attractive to smaller tenants looking for office space in the District such as offices, embassies and universities.
“If one could just look past the maze-like existing configuration of the property, this asset really has it all — efficiency, a prominent corner identity, loft-like interior spaces, a bull’s eye location, and close proximity to the Metro,” Schlager said in a statement. “It represents the only available building of its kind in the 20,000 to 40,000-square-foot range delivering in 2012.”
Rock Creek plans to start construction on the building in the first half of 2012 with completion by the end of the year. The company is also planning a gut-and-renovation of Juniper Gardens, also with work to start in the first half of 2012. Renovated units are slated for delivery in late 2012 or early 2013. The acquisitions bring the number of properties Rock Creek has acquired through its fund to five.
