But the locally based REIT paid a premium average per-sf-price of $217.84 for the 14 properties purchased from October through December The REIT didn't break out prices for the individual properties.

"We attained our goal of becoming a major owner of core real estate," says Wells chief investment officer David Steinwedell. "Through traditional acquisitions, plus sale/leaseback joint ventures, company purchases and transactions involving loan assumptions, we successfully purchased superior assets across the country."

The acquired assets included four 90%-leased buildings totaling one million sf in metro Washington, DC; the 1.1-million-sf, 50-story, 98.2%-leased headquarters of Leo Burnett USA Inc. in Downtown Chicago; a five-building, 364,000-sf office campus in Beaverton, OR; a five-story, 157,546-sf building fully leased to the Boeing Co. in suburban Seattle; the 45-story, 766,000-sf Independence Blue Cross tower in Downtown Philadelphia; a three-story, 672,000-sf building in Brea, CA; and 60 Broad St., a 39-story, 990,000-sf, 97%-leased building in New York City's financial district.