Meridian Partners With WeWork to Buy DC Building, CoWorking Giant Leasing 100K SF
By Christina sturdivant-Sani December 5, 2018 8:45 am
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The Meridian Group has partnered with an affiliate of WeWork to purchase 1333 New Hampshire Avenue NW in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, according to a press release from the developer.
“It’s a tremendous asset with a great upside, and it fits perfectly with our value-add investment strategy, David Cheek, the president of Meridian, said in a prepared statement.
The joint venture purchased the 350,000-square-foot office building from Boston Properties (BXP) for $136.5 million, Bisnow reported. Affiliates of WeWork Property Advisors are contributing 50 percent of the equity and the WeWork coworking space will lease over 100,000 square feet of the building, according to the release.
The coworking giant currently has 11 spaces in the D.C. region. The company purchased its first building in New York City in October 2017, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
Collins Ege at Eastdil Secured represented Boston Properties in its D.C. purchase, and Nicholas Seidenberg at Eastdil Secured secured the financing for Meridian. The brokers did not respond to CO’s request for comment.
The 12-story building is currently 84 percent leased to law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which is schedule to exit by August 2019, per the release. Meridian plans to renovate the building to include resurfacing and enhancing its exterior, upgrading and modernizing its lobby, building an indoor/outdoor amenity at the penthouse level. The renovations will start next year and are expected to be completed by summer 2020.
