The District, Woodvale Apartments Change Hands as D.C.’s Apartment Market Heats Up

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Apartments in the Washington, D.C., metro area are selling fast and for a lot of money. Just this past month, investors paid close to $1 billion for properties totaling around 3,500 units.

The District apartments at 14th and S streets, N.W., and Silver Spring’s Woodvale Apartments are just the latest names on the list. According to the Washington Business Journal, The District apartments sold for $76 million, or roughly $608,000 per unit, while the Woodvale Apartments traded for $53.2 million, or roughly $141,489 per unit.

The JBG Cos. was the owner and developer of The District. The Chevy Chase-based company sold the complex less than a month after finishing construction to JP Morgan. JBG Cos. developed the property under a partnership with Grosvenor Americas. Construction started in 2011.

The District has 125 studio, one- and two-bedroom units. It is LEED Silver certified and features such amenities as garage parking, wi-fi, bike storage, a private on-site fitness center, a sundeck and more. Shalom Baranes Associates was the architect for the project. The Bozzuto Group is leasing the property.

Federal Capital Partners and Angelo, Gordon & Co. sold the Woodvale Apartments to the Laramar Group L.L.C. and Lubert-Adler Partners L.P. The transaction was brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. managing directors Al Cissel and Scott Melnick.

The 376-unit garden-style apartment community is located at 13831 Castle Blvd., near Columbia Pike and Briggs Chaney Road. The complex was constructed in 1981 and was most recently renovated in 2006. Its amenities include a swimming pool, business center and fitness center.

The list of recent important multifamily transactions in the greater Washington, D.C., area also includes Rockville’s 564-unit Avalon Decoverly and Arlington’s 828-unit Crystal House. AvalonBay Communities Inc. sold both properties for a total of $332 million. Last week, Keith Loria reported on Multihousingnews.com on the record-setting sale of the Archstone Crystal Towers in Arlington. At $322.25 million, the 912-unit apartment community went for the largest sum ever paid for a single multifamily property in the region. In addition, the JBG Cos. acquired the 450-unit Falkland Chase apartments in Silver Spring for $98 million, while Waterton Associates sold its Aston Woods apartment community to Azure Partners for $40.8 million.

Rendering courtesy of The District