Jones Lang LaSalle


Institutions Chase Private Billion Dollar DC Portfolios
May 22, 2006
By Michael Fickes, Mid-Atlantic Correspondent

Pension funds and other institutional investors have snapped up more than $4 billion in privately developed Washington, D.C., metropolitan area real estate portfolios in the last year.
"Institutions are increasing their allocations to real estate," said John C. Norjen (pictured), senior vice president for investment properties in the Washington, D.C. office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. "At the same time, capital values are rising, and owners are wondering if prices can continue to rise or if this is a good time to take chips off the table."

The Mark Winkler Co., based in Washington, D.C, recently sold nearly $2 billion in office, industrial and multi-family properties, according to Norjen. Likewise, the JBG Cos. of Chevy Chase sold well-over $1 billion in properties, primarily office, while Westfield Realty Inc. of Arlington, Va., sold an office portfolio worth about $1 billion.

All three are private developers, as is the Washington, D.C.-based Peterson Cos., which last week put a 1.25 million-square-foot-portfolio of office buildings from the Fair Lakes office park on the block.

"Until recent years, the market couldn’t buy deals worth much more than $100 million," Norjen said. "Today, larger and larger deals are finding an audience. I think this is something you are beginning to see in other cities too."