Monday Properties Buys Two Potential HQ2-Proximate Office Buildings

Monday Properties closed late last month on a pair of D.C. area office buildings for about $109.4 million as it continues to add to its Greater Washington portfolio.

In separate deals, Monday bought Dulles Metro Center near the planned Innovation Center Metro station in Herndon for $71.5 million and a Cameron Run office building in Alexandria for nearly $38 million, according to land records. Neither building faces any significant immediate turnover, but both stand to benefit from external factors including, perhaps, their proximity to Amazon.com Inc.'s second headquarters.

The deals were the first for Wes Machowsky since he was hired as senior vice president of acquisitions for Monday in September. While HQ2 could add to their value, Machowsky said he believes market conditions surrounding both of the company's latest acquisitions are already strong and on the rise, particularly with Dulles Metro Center as the second phase of Metro's Silver Line is slated to open in 2020.

Cameron Run, a 145,244-square-foot building at 3601 Eisenhower Ave., is fully leased to tenants including Michael Baker Corp. and Savi Technology. The surrounding area is already seeing the benefits of the National Science Foundation's new headquarters at 2415 Eisenhower Ave, and stands to get a bigger boost when popular grocer Wegmans opens at Hoffman Town Center. Monday acquired the property from The Meridian Group.

The Eisenhower Avenue corridor has also been mentioned as part of Alexandria's bid for HQ2, but Monday Properties Managing Partner Tim Helmig said Amazon in and of itself wasn't a motivating factor for the company's Alexandria acquisition or that of Dulles Metro Center. Monday plans to make some improvements to Cameron run, including redoing its elevator system, but credits Meridian's stewardship of the property and recent renovations.

"We obviously really are incredibly optimistic about the fundamentals that have developed in Alexandria over the last 24 months," Helmig said. "We felt that acquiring Cameron Run was an investment that was in concert with the tremendous growth that we see in that particular micro market."

Monday acquired Dulles Metro Center, a nearly fully leased, 225,029-square-foot building at 2325 Dulles Corner Blvd., from a partnership of The Pinkard Group and Principal Real Estate Investors. An HQ2 location by the Innovation Center Metro station would certainly benefit the property.

But Machowsky said the property has other strong selling points including fitness center, tenant lounge with catering facility, conference center, and nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. As with Cameron Run, the building does not face any significant turnover in the near term. What's more, there has not been much new office construction in the area, which has helped keep demand strong from prospective tenants including government contractors.

While the company still has a major presence in New York, where it's based, Monday has been focusing increasingly on acquisitions in the D.C. metro area. It bought a portfolio of Alexandria properties last year, with plans to convert one into multifamily, and is in the market for other office and multifamily acquisitions.