Velocis Acquires Rosslyn Office Property in $71M Deal
By Keith Loria April 27, 2020 8:07 pm
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Dallas-based Velocis has acquired 1530 Wilson Boulevard, a 171,373-square-foot office building in Rosslyn, Va., in an off-market transaction that marks the first property in the Velocis Fund III, according to the company.
The property traded for $71.4 million, according to public records. Seller Gateway Monterey Inc. had acquired the 10-story building 20 years ago in a $40.3 million deal, records show.
“We’re a value-add fund, and [we] look for good quality assets that we can improve in some way,” Paul Smith, a partner at Velocis, told Commercial Observer. “This building needed a cosmetic lift. We’re coming in with fresh capital and a new strategy and will do some things physically to help it compete in the submarket.”
Originally constructed in 1990, the building was 81 percent occupied at the time of the sale.
According to Smith, the company will begin a multimillion-dollar improvement program at some point in 2020, which will consist of a lobby renovation, an upgrade of the exterior façade, upgrading the current fitness center and conference room and implementing a fully capitalized leasing program.
“That should allow us to compete with [Class] A properties in the area and achieve the rents that those buildings are achieving,” Smith said. “This building has lagged just a bit, but it’s a very nice building and a good quality asset in a great location. The submarket has been improving and fundamentals [are] getting better.”
The seller was represented by Invesco Real Estate (IVZ) in the deal. No brokers were involved. Lincoln Property Company will continue to lease and manage the property.
With the deal, Velocis’s portfolio now includes six Northern Virginia properties, consisting of Greensboro Park at 8181 Greensboro Drive in Tysons; 3120 Fairview Park in Falls Church; Shirlington Tower at 2900 S Quincy Street in Arlington; and Loudoun Gateway II & III at 45195 Business Court in Sterling.
“The most recent [acquisition] was Greensboro Park in Tysons Corner, two buildings we bought from Beacon Capital Partners [in June 2018], and that investment has really moved along nicely,” Smith said. “It’s the same type of strategy. This was two buildings about 80 percent leased and we purchased it with a capital renovation program that we’re almost complete with, and we’ve been able to increase rents faster and higher than our plan called for.”
