Roughly 50 percent more properties hit the market last month than in the previous January, according to Robert White, president of Real Capital Analytics, a Manhattan-based property research firm. This mixed bag of offerings — which included retail, office and residential properties — are meeting heavy demand, too. White says that buyers aren’t showing any signs of pulling back, despite the Fed’s seemingly routine interest rate increases. This is coming off a year that posted many record sale prices.
Even a market such as Tysons Corner, Va., is luring strong investor interest. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, this area of Northern Virginia was decimated by widespread office vacancies. Yet a 341,000 square-foot Tysons Corner office complex sold today for roughly $100 million. The properties were bought by an affiliate of Glendale, Calif.-based American Realty Advisors. The actual sale price was $97.5 million, according to CB Richard Ellis.
CB Richard Ellis broker Rob Faktorow says that strong leasing activity in the buildings has helped the owner increase rental rates by 37 percent over the past 12 months. For example, rents in the 8300 Greensboro property are nearing $30 per square foot CB Richard Ellis represented the seller.
Quadrangle Development Corporation owned 8300 Greensboro Drive since 1994. The firm developed 1600 International Drive not long after that purchase. While the sale price may sound like a record for the Tysons Corner sub market, a three-property McLean office complex sold in December 2004 for $121 million (or $286 per square foot). The American Realty Advisors purchase tied that deal for price per square foot.
