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WASHINGTON, DC-Private real estate developer Akridge has finalized the first closing of the Akridge Office Fund, a $150-million investment fund that will assist in the company's acquisition and development endeavors throughout the Metropolitan Washington, DC region. Real Estate Alternatives Portfolio 3, a fund of Aegon USA Realty Advisors' Capital Markets Group, is the lead investor.

Akridge has already begun to make use of the fund's capital. In conjunction with the closing, Akridge completed the first acquisition with the purchase of Falls Church Gateway, a 60,000-sf office complex in Falls Church, from Falls Church Gateway Plaza LLC. The three-structure property, carrying the addresses of 500, 510 and 520 N. Washington St., cost the fund $12 million. Transwestern represented the fund in the transaction, while CB Richard Ellis stood in for the seller.

"With the highest job growth and carrying one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country, Washington continues to be one of the strongest real estate markets in the world," Akridge president Matthew Klein says. "We understand the Washington market and we know how to find attractive opportunities."