Architecture and Engineering Firm Inks 68K-SF Lease in Downtown D.C.

The new owners behind a Class A office building in Downtown Washington, D.C., haven’t wasted any time in securing a new lease for the property, especially at a time when office vacancy in the District is at near-record highs.

Co-owners BG Ventures and ELV Associates signed Page Southerland Page, an architecture and engineering firm, to a 67,710-square-foot lease at 2101 L Street NW, a 10-story building about a mile northwest of the White House. Page joins other tenants such as Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), the U.S. Green Building Council and law firm Greenberg Traurig.

The joint venture in December paid $110.1 million to JBG Smith for the property, which had an occupancy rate of 75 percent as of JBG Smith’s third-quarter 2024 earnings report. Northwestern Mutual provided a $70 million loan to the new ownership to fund the trade, according to records.

CBRE (CBRE)’s Carroll Cavanagh, Emily Eppolito and Dimitri Hajimihalis represented the JV in the deal, while Newmark (NMRK)’s Mike Shuler and Nick Fields represented Page. The firm is planning to relocate its headquarters and consolidate its D.C. operations in the new space, according to Thomas McCarthy, Page CEO. The firm currently occupies a seventh-floor office at 1615 M Street NW.

“This significant lease transaction was executed nearly simultaneously with acquisition of 2101 L Street by the new ownership group, emphasizing the importance of well-positioned and well-capitalized assets in our market,” Cavanagh said in a statement. “While office vacancy remains elevated, we see strong demand and a scarcity of availability within the top tier of the D.C., office market.”

Although D.C.’s office vacancy rate is nearly 23 percent, a lot more inventory is likely to start hitting the market in the not-to-distant future. The Trump administration wants to cut down on the amount of properties owned or leased by the federal government across the country, let alone D.C. — an effort which could ultimately include the cancellation of three-quarters of all lease agreements within the District that the government has with third-party landlords. 

Indeed, about 27 percent of the 35.8 million square feet that the General Services Administration leases with D.C. is eligible for termination by the end of this year alone, according to recent data from Trepp. The government’s real estate activity overall accounts for about 10 percent of the DMV’s total office inventory.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.