Crystal City Office Tower Trades for $102M

CRYSTAL CITY, VA-Transwestern Investment Co. LLC acquired Presidential Tower, a class A office building, for $102 million, according to industry experts. The investment was made on behalf of Aslan Realty Partners III LLC.The property located in Arlington, VA totals 333,000 sf. According to area sources the 12-story building had been under contract to trade with a limited partnership called LHL Realty Co. The Virginia office of Transwestern Commercial Services will manage the asset, located at 2511 Jefferson Davis Highway.

If the building closed on or around this price, it would be on par with other recent transactions. In June the Consumer Electronics Association acquired 1919 S Eads St., a 98,750-sf class A property from Charles E Smith for $388.86 per sf. In May 601 S. 12 St. was sold to Brookfield Properties from National Retail Properties Inc. for $425.93 per sf. It is a 540,000 sf, class B asset.

Office valuations in this submarket can be difficult to determine precisely due to the uncertainty created by the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission last year. According to the Arlington County’s BRAC Transition Task force, some 76.8% of all office space here is expected to be affected. “Part of the problem with Crystal City is that because the future renewals are uncertain it has caused some deals to hold off,” Eric Berkman, senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis in Washington, DC tells GlobeSt.com.