Regions Midatlantic
JPG Takes 2 Bethesda Office Buildings for $80M
May 8, 2008
By: Judy Feldman, Contributing Correspondent

The JBG Cos. has bought two North Bethesda, Md., properties for $80 million. Together, the class A buildings contain 346,000 square feet. The are located on the Rockville Pike near the Montgomery Mall.

Holiday Fenoglio Fowler’s senior managing directors Bob Donhauser and Bill Asbill, and director Cary Abod, helped the firm secure financing, a five-year fixed rate loan, from ING Real Estate.

Th market is tight for office space now, with rents in the Montgomery County area hitting a new high of $33.75 per square foot in Class A buildings, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield Inc., which also noted that Montgomery County has had a cooling job market this year and continued weakness in the financial sector, along with the rest of the country. But the unemployment rate in Montgomery County is still at an eight-year low of 2.7 percent. The Bethesda/Chevy Chase is the tightest among all the submarkets in the county with the vacancy rate dropping to 4.3 percent for class A buildings.

The JBG Companies, founded in 1960, is an active investor owner and developer in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan real estate market. It currently has more than $10 billion in assets under management.

 
Recent Midatlantic Headlines
Budget to Save Commercial Property Holders $21M in  D.C.
Commercial property holders in Washington, D.C. will save $21 million in savings for the year beginning in October following the D.C. Council's  passage of its 2009 budget, Washington Business Journal reported.
Corus, Lehman Bros. Make D.C. Loans
Corus Bank closed a $72 million loan to MR BP Office #1 L.L.C. to finance the construction of a nine-story Class A office building located at 55 M Street SE in Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia Taps Hughes for Green Post
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Mark Hughes will become the city's sustainability director.
Arent Fox to Relocate D.C. Office
Arent Fox L.L.P. has announced that it will relocate its Washington, D.C., office to 1000 Connecticut Ave. upon the expiration of its current lease in 2012.
Busy Few Days for ProLogis with Development, Acquisition, Hiring News
The week is only half done and already ProLogis has announced plans for a 220,000-square-foot build-to-suit in Hungary, the purchase of 83 acres in Virginia, and the appointment of a new global executive.