Affinius Capital Lands Refi for DC-Area Office Property

The property serves as the headquarters for the National Cancer Institute.

Affinius Capital has refinanced The National Cancer Institute Headquarters Building, a 586,524-square-foot office property in Rockville, Md. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited provided the three-year syndicated loan. JLL Capital Markets worked on behalf of the borrower.

USAA Real Estate purchased the building in 2016 for $260.2 million from JBG Cos., with a $161.2 million acquisition loan originated by Wells Fargo Bank, according to CommercialEdge data. In 2023, USAA Real Estate and Square Mile Capital combined their platforms under a new corporate brand name, Affinius Capital.

The National Cancer Institute recently expanded its leasing agreement at the eight-story building through 2033. Dating back to 2012, the build-to-suit facility offers customized space and an on-site data center. The property also features a 3,000-square-foot fitness center, a yoga studio, a cafeteria, 2,041 parking spaces and private outdoor space, along with some 10,000 square feet of retail space.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team included Managing Director Rob Carey and Director Owen Claypool, along with Associate Emma Buch and Analyst Patrick Wu.

The LEED Platinum-certified facility is at 9609 Medical Center Drive, within the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center and next to Johns Hopkins University’s Montgomery County campus. Downtown Washington, D.C., is within 21 miles, while Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is 40.5 miles northeast. The building is also some 23 miles from The McMillan Center for Health & Research, a nearly 1 million-square-foot life science project.

The DC office market’s latest stats

According to the latest CommercialEdge office report, the Washington, D.C., market had some $8.6 billion in loans maturing through the end of 2024, surpassed only by Chicago ($10.2 billion), Los Angeles ($10.3 billion) and Manhattan ($19.8 billion).

The metro’s average listing rate in December clocked in at $40.9, slightly above the $37.7 national average, the same research shows. In one of the most recent deals, Legal Services Corp. signed a 37,000-square-foot lease at Tishman Speyer’s International Square, a 1.1 million-square-foot office complex.