1776 Massachusetts Ave. Sells for $45.5M to ELV Associates

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

ELV Associates acquired 1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., paying $45.5 million, or about $498.29 per square foot. The Boston-based real estate investment and management firm acquired the building from 1776 Mass Ave. L.L.C., an affiliate of New York’s Joss Realty Partners L.L.C.

The property was built in 1970 and stands eight stories high. It is located on a key street in Dupont Circle. Joss Realty Partners purchased it in 2005 for $34.5 million. The 91,312-square-foot building is 96 percent leased to tenants that include Boston University, the Brookings Institution and Johns Hopkins University.

As one of the few privately owned, multi-tenant office buildings in the city, demand for the property was high. “We had an extraordinary amount of interest in 1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.,” Paul Hanafin stated in a press release.

Paul Hanafin and Richard Siegel, principals with West, Lane & Schlager Realty Advisors L.L.C.’s Investment Services Group, represented the seller and were the sole brokers in the deal.

The building’s location is one of its strong points. The neighborhood is one of the most expensive in the city. Hanafin described it as ”ground zero for many of Washington’s most elite think tanks and nonprofit organizations, such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.” He added that some organizations pay as much as $1,000 per square foot just to reside on this particular block.

ELV Associates Inc. is a privately held real estate investment and management firm focused on acquiring middle-market commercial properties in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. It was established in 1991 and has over the years acquired or developed 40 properties representing nearly $500 million in market value.

Image courtesy of Joss Realty Partners.