430,000-SF Office Portfolio to be Reborn as Residential Property

SILVER SPRING, MD-After sitting empty without a single tenant for the last decade, the Silver Spring Office Portfolio–a 430,000-sf four-building group of class C properties–has found a new owner. Gramax Associates LP acquired the portfolio from the New York family-owned LHL Realty Cos. Vanguard Realty spearheaded the disposition on behalf of LHL, but is keeping mum on the financial details of the transaction, as per the family’s request. However, Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation records indicate that the real estate package was sold for just over $12 million. “This is a significant transaction in the hot Silver Spring market in that it dramatically reduces the vacancy rate from 15% to 10%,” real estate services firm Grubb & Ellis’s Pete Hill-Byrne notes.

LHL had owned the four buildings–located at 8060 13th St., 7915 Eastern Ave., 7923 Eastern Ave. and 7981 Eastern Ave.–for the last 30 years. The 180,000-sf structure at 8060 13th St. is also known as the Gramax Heliport Building. It was developed in 1960 and has a 2003 assessed value of $2.7 million. Records show that the 15-story tower sold for $5 million. Unlike the other properties involved, the 94,000-sf four-story building at 7981 Eastern Ave. underwent a renovation, in 1979, 20 years after its development. Its value is $1.2 million and it sold for approximately $2 million. Finally, 7915 Eastern Ave. and 7923 Eastern Ave. carry separate addresses but are often considered a single property, as they are divided only by a mere six feet. Built in the late 1950s, they are 96,000 sf and 60,000 sf, respectively, and have a joint value of $2.6 million. They were sold for a combined $5 million.