Two More Unizo Offices Wade in D.C.’s Financial Distress
The buildings at 820 and 1100 First Street NE moved to special servicing less than a year after Unizo handed over the keys to three of its other D.C. properties
By Nick Trombola June 24, 2025 7:25 pm
reprints
Less than a year after handing over three office properties in Washington, D.C., to their respective lenders, troubled Japanese investment company Unizo Holdings is on the verge of losing another.
A $211 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan tied to Unizo’s 820 and 1100 First Street NE, in D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood, has transferred to special servicing, according to a Morningstar Credit report. Unizo missed three consecutive monthly payments on the debt in April, May and June. Barclays and Citi Real Estate Funding originated the debt in 2021.
Unizo put down $358 million to acquire the buildings in 2016, during the heyday of the Tokyo-based firm’s D.C. buying spree. The company spent $141 million on the 280,000-square-foot building at 820 First, and $217 million on the 349,000-square-foot building at 1100 First, according to Bisnow, which first reported news of Unizo’s delinquency.
The buildings together were 85 percent occupied at the end of 2024, per Morningstar, with multiple leases set to expire in 2026. That includes the Department of Veteran Affairs’ 62,000-square-foot lease, which expires in June 2026, and Mathematica Policy Research’s 125,000-square-foot lease at 1100 First, which expires October 2026.
Tenants at 820 First include the D.C. bureau of CNN and the General Services Administration. IT services company Accenture also previously occupied 66,000 square feet at 820 First, though its lease there expired in February, per Bisnow.
A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment, while representatives for Citi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Unizo could not immediately be reached.
Unizo was among the hottest players in D.C. real estate between 2016 and 2017, spending some $1.2 billion on assets within the District in less than two years. During that period, the firm also acquired the 12-story 1111 19th Street NW; the 12-story 1030 15th Street NW, dubbed The Executive Building; and the 10-story 1341 G Street NW, dubbed The Colorado Building. New York Life provided a $165 million loan tied to the trio in 2017.
Yet financial issues began to mount for Unizo just a few years later. In early 2019, it sold the 267,000-square-foot 50 F Street NW to an affiliate of Penzance for $85 million — nearly $25 million less than the $109.5 million Unizo paid barely three years earlier. It also sold the 190,000-square-foot 1201 Connecticut Avenue NW in mid-2019 to Novel Coworking for $73.6 million, a roughly 20 percent loss.
The firm had attempted to sell 820 First in early 2020 — at a “significant loss,” according to an announcement from Unizo at the time — though the pandemic ultimately derailed the sale.
Unizo ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023, but it would still lose a significant chunk of its D.C. portfolio in the aftermath. New York Life filed foreclosures on 1111 19th, 1030 15th and 1341 G late last year, and Unizo handed the keys to all three buildings back to the lender.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
