WASHINGTON, DC-MetLife and an institutional investor has snapped up one of DC's largest office complexes for a price a source has told GlobeSt.com that is slightly more than $730 million. The building is Constitution Center, a 1.4-million-square foot office trophy that recently underwent a $250 million renovation that delivered this year. MetLife's 50-50 joint venture partner was advised by Clarion Partners LLC's managing director Marc DeLuca. DeLuca confirmed the building officially traded this morning but declined to discuss the details of the transaction.

Constitution Center has been the focus of much drama—at least what passes for drama in the DC area. In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it would lease roughly 900,000-square feet of space at Constitution Center, which is located at 400 Seventh St. However, behind the scenes the $556 million deal quickly unraveled when the SEC determined that it would not need 600,000-square feet after all. The agency's IG eventually took the SEC to task for the decision-making leading up the deal.

The building's owner David Nassif Associates, however, has since managed the fill the space, handing over a fully-leased 10-story building to its new owners. Earlier this month, in fact, FD Stonewater Managing Director of Leasing Robert Hines represented the then-owner in a new lease transaction totaling 372,299 square feet, in which the United States Federal Trade Commission will consolidate a number of existing offices. The balance of space will be filled by other yet to be formally identified federal agencies. That was the deal that brought Constitution Center to full occupancy.