Gauging the closing price would be difficult, according to Tonya Ginter, director of Research and Marketing for GVA Advantis, as there have been few trades in Crystal City in recent months. Also, the building itself does not lend itself to an easy comparison--one of the towers is a class B structure, she says, and the other, class C. Ginter's best guess is that "it probably traded anywhere from $350 per sf, to $400 per sf." The closest comp was in Oct. 2006 when 2511 Jefferson Davis Hwy. traded for $306.37 per sf. In December 2006 4501 N. Fairfax Dr. traded for $493 per sf.

Jefferson Plaza consists of two 13-story towers: the 263,312-sf Jefferson Plaza 1 and the 253,993-sf Jefferson Plaza 2, which are located at 1411 and 1421 Jefferson Davis Highway, respectively. The buildings are connected at ground level with a glass-enclosed atrium and their main entrances are located on the submarket's major thoroughfare, Crystal Dr. Other features in the building include 21,000-sf floorplates and a three-level below-grade parking structure that both buildings share. Together, the two towers are 96% leased with the National Guard Bureau as the largest tenant.

Crystal City's status as a submarket in progress was a selling point for the buyer, according to LEI. Once strictly a government agency town, Crystal City has been scrambling to reinvent itself into a destination for private sector office and residential investment after the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act. Crystal City "is undergoing a significant transformation which is bringing new residents along with retail, restaurants and entertainment venues, creating a more vibrant 24-hour district," says Bleecker Seaman, LEI managing director. "This is a market we know well as we have owned and operated the nearby Century City complex for several years, which itself is undergoing a significant renovation."

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.