Watergate Office, Retail Complex Put Back Up for Sale
Bloomberg reports: The Washington D.C. office complex made famous by the political scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon is being put back on the market after the owner failed to find a buyer last year.
BentleyForbes, the Los Angeles-based real estate investor that bought the office and retail portion of the Watergate towers in 2005, hired investment banking firm Savills LLC to market the property.
BentleyForbes put its stake in the complex, site of the bungled 1972 burglary that led to Nixon’s resignation, up for sale a year ago, and pulled it from the market last May. Buyers wouldn’t pay what the company was seeking, CEO David. W. Cobb said at the time. He wouldn’t say then how much BentleyForbes was asking.
The office, retail and parking garage likely would have sold for about $120 million last year, said Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics Inc., a New York-based property-research firm. The property is likely to go for less than that now because of the global capital crunch, he said.
BentleyForbes bought the Watergate complex in 2005 from Trizec Properties Inc. for $86.5 million.
"They should’ve sold it last year. They should’ve taken the bid, whatever it was," Fasulo said. However, with vacancy rates low in D.C., prospects may not be so gloomy. "Just about everyone is very bullish that the federal government is going to continue to expand under the Obama administration," Fasulo said. "That’s going to create demand for all kinds of office space in Washington, especially in a prime location like the Watergate."
View the full article on Bloomberg: Watergate Office, Retail Complex Put Back Up for Sale
Posted by: Matthew Stone