Tuesday, September 6, 2011

AREA Property Partners and Adler Group to Acquire and Operate 3.1 Million SF Commercial Property Portfolio in Washington, DC Market



MIAMI, FL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AP AG Portfolio, LLC - a joint venture between AREA Property Partners (“AREA”) and Adler Group have announced the closing on the first stage of a $350 million purchase of a 3,087,945-square-foot portfolio of multi-tenant office and warehouse assets offered by Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (“WRIT”) in the Washington, DC market.

This first stage of transactions resulted in the acquisition of 2,284,272 square feet of commercial properties. The final phase of transactions to acquire the portfolio’s remaining 803,673 square feet will be completed in the next two months.

AREA and Adler Group are acquiring the portfolio, which consists of industrial assets comprising the entirety of WRIT’s industrial division and some office properties spanning four DC submarkets, primarily in key Northern Virginia suburbs, but also including strong suburban Maryland locations.

Current occupancy levels across all properties combined is averaging at 79 percent. Both AREA and Adler Group recognize the resiliency of the regional economy as an opportunity to increase occupancy across all properties by retaining valued tenants and reaching out to businesses in various industries looking to fill a wide range of operating space needs.

The properties combined are currently home to some of the nation’s preeminent corporations including GE Healthcare, MedImmune, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, ITT Educational Services and American Honda Motor Company, along with bases of operations for numerous federal agencies.

The average tenant size is 13,000 square feet, with the largest tenant occupying more than 140,700 square feet of industrial space.

“We are bullish on the greater Washington, DC area, and confident that this high-quality portfolio will further flourish under the hands-on asset management skills we bring to the table,” said AREA partner Steve Wolf (top right photo).

Mr. Wolf, who noted that AREA and Adler Group are now the second largest industrial property landlord in the Washington, DC market, said the properties are well located and well-suited for use by the sectors that dominate the region, such as government, intelligence, law enforcement and high-tech users.

 “We will focus on increasing the occupancy rate and maintaining the credit-worthiness and quality of the tenant base to achieve the best results for our investors.”

“We are planning to add value for these assets by taking occupancy levels from the high 70 percentile above the 90 percent mark by focusing on concerted property improvement, marketing and management efforts,” said Matthew L. Adler, chief investment officer for Adler Group.

He added that multi-tenant, management-intensive properties in markets with strong growth potential, such as the ones in the WRIT portfolio, are the type of assets for which the company can employ its expertise in on-site property management, leasing and tenant retention to provide strong value-added services and support that realize an asset’s fullest income-earning capacity.

 For more information on the companies, please visit www.areapropertypartners.com and www.adlergroup.com.

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, identifying the acquired properties, please contact:

AREA Property Partners
Julie Solomon, 212-515-3343

or
Media inquiries:
Great Ink Communications:
212-741-2977
Roxanne Donovan - roxanne@greatink.com
Mitchell Breindel - mitchell@greatink.com
Jordana Marks - jordana@greatink.com

For Adler Group media inquiries:
rbb Public Relations
Mary Sudasassi, 305-448-6163


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