REIT Invests $27M Into Off-Market Buy

WASHINGTON, DC-Columbia Equity Trust has acquired 101 Orchard Ridge Dr., a three-story, 102,400-sf, multi-tenant office building in the Gaithersburg, MD, for $26.7 million. It’s the Washington, DC-based REIT’s second purchase in a year in the 3.2-million-sf submarket.

Signs point to additional expansion into the Gaithersburg area by Columbia, which also owns Park Plaza II along Gaither Road in North Rockville. Columbia CEO and chairman Oliver Carr tells GlobeSt.com that the REIT “would like to grow our presence in the north Rockville-Gaithersburg market. We like the supply-demand fundamentals in that market. There has been healthy job growth in Montgomery County with limited new supply.”

Columbia did not disclose the seller, but its SEC filing in April shows it entered into a material definitive agreement with Foulger Land LP and Argo Orchard Ridge Manager Inc. to acquire 100% of the ownership interests in 101 Orchard Ridge Dr. for $11.94 million before transaction costs. Carr would not comment on the filing.