Hampshire, which made the acquisition on behalf of its Hampshire Partners Fund VII portfolio, a recently-launched $350 million institutional real estate investment fund, declined to name the seller or acquisition/sale leaseback price. However, according to marketing materials by Houlihan-Parnes/iCap Realty Advisors LLC, when the property was on the market it was "owner-occupied by Verizon Washington, who will lease back the entire building for three years."

Hampshire reports that the building is fully leased to Verizon Wireless until 2010. Should it choose the vacate the facility at that point, Robert F. Vicci, investment manager with the Hampshire Cos., tells GlobeSt.com, "Fund VII intends to make structural and cosmetic renovations and enhancements to upgrade the building to class A, with a view to attracting a single corporate user as headquarters facility or regional operations center." He adds that the firm is also exploring the possibility of converting the first floor into a retail center.

The firm also made another acquisition in the Mid-Atlantic region recently through its Fund VII: a 317,400-sf flex building at 5700 Audubon Dr. in Richmond, Va. These two acquisitions join a small but growing number of assets the NJ-based firm has in the Mid-Atlantic. Other assets in the region include 1041 Electric Ave., in Vienna, VA., a 125,000-sf office; John Harland Co Inc. in Glen Burnie, MD, a 120,000-sf office; a 300,000-sf shopping center in Arundel, MD, called Pasadena Crossroads; a one-million-sf industrial facility in Hampstead, MD., called Solo Cup; and Weis Markets, a Glen Burnie, MD-based 50,000-sf single tenant retail establishment.