Tallest Building in DC Enclave Ballston Sold for $190M

A busy suburb of Washington, D.C. saw its tallest building trade hands while Santa Claus was making the rounds.

Philadelphia-based Brandywine Realty Trust and Arlington-based Shooshan Company sold the 405,000-square-foot property at 4040 Wilson Boulevard in Ballston, Virginia for $190.5 million, the Washington Business Journal reported. The sale works out to $470 per square foot.

The identity of the buyer was not disclosed. The sale has yet to appear in Arlington records; Ballston is a neighborhood in Arlington and is home to research institutions and agencies such as the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Brandywine and Shooshan each held a 50 percent share of the property at 4040 Wilson, which includes 225,000 square feet of office space — anchored by AvalonBay Communities — 250 apartments, retail space and 494 parking spaces. The commercial and residential spaces are 94 and 96 percent leased, respectively.

Rents for the property’s apartments range from $2,500 to $4,515, according to Apartments.com. Amenities include rooftop plunge pools, a deck with grilling stations, a coworking lounge and a gym.

The sellers tapped Cushman & Wakefield to start exploring a sale or recapitalization of the 23-story, 250-foot building in 2021. The most recent assessment of the property came in at $212 million.

Brandywine also recently unloaded a portfolio of fully leased flex-industrial properties in the Richmond area for $66.8 million. Chief executive officer Jerry Sweeney said in a statement that the deals demonstrate a “commitment to redeploying capital” while increasing financial flexibility.

Brandywine, one of the largest property owners in Austin, Texas, is in a dispute with the state. A year ago, the developer sued the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, claiming the commission broke a contract by prematurely canceling an office lease at its Uptown ATX development.

— Holden Walter-Warner