At the same time it plugged away at its plan. Over the last year or so it has sold Storey Park, a development site in the NoMa submarket and a Northern Virginia office and business park portfolio.

With the recent sales of Plaza 500 and One Fair Oaks, First Potomac now has disposed of approximately $295 million of non-core assets towards its goal of $350 million in dispositions.

“With almost $300 million of our stated $350 million goal of non-core dispositions completed, and the majority of the proceeds from those sales utilized to retire our Series A Preferred Shares and repay additional debt, we have made great progress in de-risking our portfolio, de-levering our balance sheet and maximizing asset values,” CEO Robert Milkovich said in a prepared statement.

BETHESDA, MD–First Potomac Realty Trust has sold two properties in Northern Virginia for a total of $88.7 million, bringing the REIT within a stone's throw of its goal to make $350 million in non-core sales under its strategic plan.

First Potomac has sold Plaza 500 to the Matan Cos. for gross proceeds of $75 million. It also has sold One Fair Oaks for gross proceeds of $13.7 million. Plaza 500 is a two-building 502,830 square foot industrial property in Alexandria that was 90.5% leased as of September 2016. (As an aside, in October 2016 Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Paxton Van Lines in a lease renewal and 36,127 square foot expansion at Plaza 500. Its original 107,313-square-foot lease transaction was three years ago.). The 214,214-square foot One Fair Oaks was fully occupied by CACI International through December 31, 2016.

Per its strategic plan, the proceeds of these sales will be used to repay the company's outstanding debt.

First Potomac rolled out this strategic plan to reposition its portfolio in 2013 as its stock value began to experience significant erosion. By 2016 its market cap had fallen to $700 million, losing its “well-known seasoned issuer” designation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

At the same time it plugged away at its plan. Over the last year or so it has sold Storey Park, a development site in the NoMa submarket and a Northern Virginia office and business park portfolio.

With the recent sales of Plaza 500 and One Fair Oaks, First Potomac now has disposed of approximately $295 million of non-core assets towards its goal of $350 million in dispositions.

“With almost $300 million of our stated $350 million goal of non-core dispositions completed, and the majority of the proceeds from those sales utilized to retire our Series A Preferred Shares and repay additional debt, we have made great progress in de-risking our portfolio, de-levering our balance sheet and maximizing asset values,” CEO Robert Milkovich said in a prepared statement.