Douglas Jemal and the location for the new Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters (Google Maps, Getty)
The federal government’s commercial real estate arm signed a 1.2 million-square-foot lease in Washington, triple the size of the largest last year in the nation’s capital, for the new headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The General Services Administration inked a 15-year lease with an option to renew for 10 years with Douglas Development and Midtown Equities at 60 New York Avenue NE. The agency began its search for a new home for the SEC, now located in three buildings near Union Station, four years ago.
Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of 2022 for offices to accommodate more than 4,500 SEC employees in two adjacent buildings.
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“Our vision to redevelop this expansive, free-standing site began 30 years ago when we first purchased the land, and it’s exciting to finally see it come to fruition,” Norman Jemal, managing principal of Douglas Development, said in a statement.
Douglas, founded by Norman’s father, Brooklyn-born Douglas Jemal, is among Washington’s largest developers. It also owns an adjacent site that could fit 600,000 square feet of offices, 600 residential units, or a combination of the two.
Brian Sullivan of JLL represented the landlord, while Todd Valentine, David Lipson and Neil Levy at Savills and Kevin Terry at GSA represented the tenant.
New Yorkers might recognize the Jemal name. Douglas Jemal was one of four brothers who ran The Wiz, an electronics retailer best known before its 1997 bankruptcy for its relentless slogan, “Nobody Beats The Wiz!”
Douglas Jemal was convicted in 2006 of one count of wire fraud for falsifying loan documents. Sentenced to five years of probation, he was pardoned by President Trump just before Trump left office.