[IMGCAP(2)]Designed by architecture firm Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, the building houses Holland & Knight, the investment bank Perseus, and Danaher, among other investment-grade tenants. The acquisition has brought the value of Vico Capital's property assets to more than $2 billion. It also fits in with its investment criteria of high-quality buildings in prime locations with credit-worthy tenants, Brian O'Donnell says. "We hope that this will be the first of several trophy asset purchases in Washington, DC and elsewhere in the US this year as we continue to expand Vico Capital's world-class portfolio outside of our home markets," he says in a prepared statement.

Other recent acquisitions by Vico Capital include Fatburen, the 750,000-sf class A office building in Stockholm occupied by the Swedish government; Sanctuary Buildings, the largest office building in Westminster, London occupied by the British Government; and 17 Columbus Courtyard and 15 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London, occupied by Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley respectively.

At more than $800 per sf, this is one of the largest transactions in the District for quite some time, Tonya Ginter, director of Research and Marketing at GVA Advantis tells GlobeSt.com. Certainly it tops the investment trades for 2008. The closest contenders are ING Clarion Partners's acquisition of 1111 19th St. NW for $115 million and Pembroke Real Estate's acquisition of two office buildings--1000 and 1010 Vermont Ave.--for $63.6 million. Wealth Capital was advised by Lacy Ltd. Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the deal.