Liberty Property Trust Sells DC Asset for $62M

1100 17th St. NW

Liberty Property Trust has sold 1100 17th St. NW, a 147,000-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C., for $61.8 million. Bill Collins and Shaun Weinberg of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the deal.

At the time of sale, the 12-story building was 65.7 percent leased. Tenants include the Corporate Council of Africa, Global Financial Integrity and The Efiia Group.

Upgraded amenities

Completed in 1962, the building underwent substantial renovations in 1998. Liberty Property Trust acquired the asset in December 2011 for nearly $50 million from Morgan Stanley, according to Yardi Matrix data.

In May of 2018, OTJ Architects completed renovations of the property, improving the asset’s form and function to offer an alternative social workspace for the existing tenants.

Thanks to the interior design firm’s efforts, the building now features numerous amenity space on the ground floor, including a café-style lounge known as The Hive, conference room, fitness center, bike storage and new lobby with art components provided by a local artist.

The property offers 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and is close to Farragut Square, the White House and multiple subway stations.

The REIT owns three additional properties in D.C.—1129 20th St. NW, 2100 M St. NW and 1425 New York Ave. NW.

New strategy taking shape

According to Liberty Property Trust’s company conference call at the end of 2018, the company is doing well with its new business strategy, focusing on industrial properties and is in the process of selling off many of its office assets.

Last year, the REIT sold $795 million of office product and acquired more than $1 billion of industrial assets. Its latest projections forecast it will sell an additional $600 million to $700 million of its remaining office assets in 2019, with the entirety of its office portfolio divested by 2020.

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