Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Acquires 925 and 1000 Corporate Drive at Quantico Corporate Center for $68 Million
ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT) (NYSE:WRE) has acquired two newly constructed four-story Class A office buildings totaling approximately 271,000 square feet within Quantico Corporate Center in Stafford, Virginia for $68 million.
Quantico Corporate Center is an office park development immediately adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico, I-95 and Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. Route 1) in Stafford, Virginia. The park contains land to develop approximately one million square feet of commercial mixed use space consisting of office, single-story research and development facilities, and hotel and retail sites.
WRIT anticipates future demand at Quantico Corporate Center will come from both the existing Marine Corps operations as well as new demand generated by the 719,000 square foot Military Department Investigative Agencies (MDIA) facility, currently under construction less than a mile from Quantico Corporate Center. In 2005 the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission directed five military department investigative agencies to co-locate at Marine Corps Base Quantico no later than September 2011. The MDIA facility alone will bring an estimated 2,659 new jobs to the Base.
925 and 1000 Corporate Drive are the first two office buildings at Quantico Corporate Center and are 100% leased to 14 tenants, primarily defense and government contractors serving Marine Corps Base Quantico including BAE Systems, General Dynamics, and MITRE Corporation.
WRIT funded the acquisition using available cash and its line of credit. WRIT expects to achieve a first year unleveraged yield of 8.8% on a cash basis.
"Quantico Corporate Center presents an excellent opportunity for WRIT to invest in new, high quality, strategically located assets. These properties have unparalleled visibility from I-95 and access to Marine Corps Base Quantico. As with most prominent military locations, defense contractors need to be near the customer. We believe the on-going support of the Marines, recent BRAC initiatives and government spending in Quantico should continue to drive demand for additional commercial space in the park. We are excited about future potential opportunities to participate in the development and/or ownership of other properties at Quantico Corporate Center," said George "Skip" McKenzie, President and Chief Executive Officer of WRIT.
WRIT is a self-administered, self-managed, equity real estate investment trust investing in income-producing properties in the greater Washington metro region. WRIT owns a diversified portfolio of 92 properties totaling approximately 11.3 million square feet of commercial space and 2,540 residential units. These 92 properties consist of 29 office properties, 20 industrial/flex properties, 18 medical office properties, 14 retail centers, 11 multifamily properties and land for development. WRIT shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:WRE).
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the effect of the current credit and financial market conditions, the availability and cost of capital, fluctuations in interest rates, tenants' financial conditions, the timing and pricing of lease transactions, levels of competition, the effect of government regulation, the impact of newly adopted accounting principles, changes in general and local economic and real estate market conditions, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our 2009 Form 10-K and first quarter 2010 10-Q. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.
Source: Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT)
Released June 3, 2010