Brookfield Sells D.C. Office to Rockwood for $153M

A roughly 350,000-square-foot office building in Downtown Washington, D.C., has traded hands for — surprise, surprise — less than its most recent sale price 20 years ago.

An affiliate of Brookfield Properties has sold the Victor Building at 750 Ninth Street NW to Rockwood Capital for $153 million, according to the Business Journals, citing property records. The property is adjacent to CityCenterDC, the Hines-owned, 2.5 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex less than a mile east of the White House. 

Rockwood landed a $113.4 million loan from Germany-based Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG to fund the deal, per the Business Journals.

Yet the 1909-built property, which was renovated in 2021, last traded in 2005 for $157.5 million to Trizec, records show. The Smithsonian Institution was the previous owner, and it currently leases space there alongside Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and nonprofit consultant BoardSource. Brookfield and partner Blackstone acquired Trizec for $4.8 billion in 2006 (along with assuming over $4 billion in debt), and Brookfield has since recapitalized on the Victor Building.

A representative for Rockwood did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Still, the price difference is not nearly as severe as other offices that have traded hands in the DMV lately. That includes the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund’s (TIAA) $118 million sale earlier this month, via its affiliate Nuveen, of 1401 H Street NW to Tourmaline Capital Partners. That price is barely 50 percent of what TIAA paid for it in 2006, and it’s still $15 million less than it traded for in 1998. 

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