New FDA Building Sells for $22M

COLLEGE PARK, MD-Located near the University of Maryland, a new 80,000-sf building that is home to offices of the US Department of Food and Drug Administration has sold to Government Properties Trust for $22.3 million. The Omaha-based REIT’s portfolio consists of single-tenant government-occupied buildings with long-term leases in place. The acquisition price tag includes Government Properties’ assumption of an existing $16.7 million debt on the property, which just opened its doors on September 1.

The FDA, which has a lease that expires in the summer of 2014, occupies about 64,000 sf of office and laboratory space at the three-story structure, leaving the remaining space vacant for the moment. Given the terms of the tenancy, the property comes with ready-made income; the government’s lease agreement will yield an average of approximately $2.6 million in annual gross rent for the new owner; specifically, the current rent is at $2.4 million, but that figure is scheduled for an increase in the fourth and seventh years of the lease.