Shorenstein first entered the District in 2001 with the purchase of Washington Harbor, a 537,000-sf office complex in Georgetown, which it then sold in March 2003. The fund typically focuses on investments of this caliber, according to spokesperson given that its institutional investors--university endowments, foundations--tend to be conservative. The Commonwealth building acquisition, he tells GlobeSt.com, is for an investment fund that the company created a year and a half ago--a $775-million equity fund, $75 million of which comes from Shorenstein. “It is the seventh fund they have raised. Properties tend to be well located downtown office buildings.” Usually the fund buys class A buildings but will consider class B if they are in a good location. Also, the fund looks for value-add opportunities in its acquisitions, he adds.

A class B building located in the central business district a block away from the 1700 block of K Street, the Commonwealth meets this criteria. It is 97% leased to 24 tenants, according to Grubb & Ellis. “This is a well located asset positioned to benefit from anticipated growth among the Capitol’s professional and government tenant base and fits well into the national office portfolio we are in the process of creating for our current fund,” Shorenstein says. Shorenstein Properties also own nearly one million sf of office property in the East End submarket as well as the city’s Central Business District.