Property Group Partners Acquires Fee Interest for the Development of $1.3 Billion 'Capitol Crossing' Project in Washington, DC

Long-Anticipated Development of Vibrant Mixed-Use Community to Move Forward Following Historic Closing

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Dec 04, 2012, 11:06 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Property Group Partners, a leading owner and developer of Class-A commercial real estate, has acquired the fee interest for three blocks of the recessed portion of Interstate 395 ("I-395") located in downtown Washington.

With today's news, preliminary work on the 2.2 million-square-foot, mixed-use development known as Capitol Crossing is cleared to begin, with the development of the platform and the first office building to commence in 2013.

Designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, Capitol Crossing will be built on the largest contiguous, undeveloped site remaining in downtown Washington. Spanning from Massachusetts Avenue on the north to E Street on the south, the platform will cover the expressway between 2^nd and 3^rd Streets NW and create seven acres of property when completed. The development also will reconnect the Capitol Hill and East End districts that were cut off from each other by the construction of I-395 in the late 1960s.

The specific financial terms of this landmark transaction remain confidential.

"As a development firm that has constructed iconic buildings throughout the world, this is by far the most creative project that we have ever tackled. Thanks to our partners and scores of District and Federal officials who helped us reach this point, we can now move forward to make this long-awaited dream a reality," says Jeffrey Sussman, president of Property Group Partners.

A team of local CBE partners led by The Jarvis Companies will participate in the project.

Current plans call for five major buildings to be built on the site, one 150-unit residential building and four office buildings of between 300,000 square feet and 685,000 square feet. All of these buildings will be built to 130 feet and will have stunning views of the Capitol and the Washington Monument. The office buildings will achieve LEED Platinum ratings. The residential building will be at 600 2^nd Street and will contain 180,000 square feet of space, while the four office buildings will be addressed as 200 Massachusetts Avenue, containing 407,000 square feet of space; 250 Massachusetts Avenue, offering 546,000 square feet of space; 200 F Street, with 685,000 square feet of space; and 201 F Street, containing 297,000 square feet. Each high-rise building will feature exclusive ground-floor retail space designed for a mixture of restaurants, boutiques and service-oriented merchants.

The site is located three blocks from Union Station, offering immediate connections to AMTRAK and the MARC and VRE rail lines. The Judiciary Square station of the Washington METRO system is located one block west of Capitol Crossing, The project is in close proximity to entertainment and hospitality amenities such as Verizon Center, the Washington Convention Center, cultural institutions and a large number of retailers and restaurants.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the master plan for the project, and Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates are design architects for the north and south block office buildings, respectively.

Real estate services firm NAI KLNB served as originating broker of the transaction, and a team of leasing brokers from the Washington office of Cassidy Turley represents Property Group Partners as the designated leasing agent for the project.

For more information about Capitol Crossing, please click here.

EDITORS: RENDERINGS OF CAPITOL CROSSING AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

About Property Group Partners

Property Group Partners (formerly Louis Dreyfus Property Group) has developed, acquired, and managed first-class office buildings in North America and Europe for over 40 years. The company's portfolio has consisted primarily of high quality office buildings in central business districts and major urban locations, which have included New York City; Fairfield and Westchester Counties; Washington DC; Miami; Chicago; Portland, Oregon; Montreal; Toronto; Paris and London. It has also built and developed a number of hotels in partnership with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, including the Four Seasons Hotel Washington DC; the Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley.

Active in the Washington real estate market since the early 1970s, it developed and manages Station Place, the 1.6-million-square-foot complex connected to Union Station that is the headquarters of the SEC, 1101 New York Avenue, and 801 Seventeenth Street.

www.pgp.us.com

SOURCE Property Group Partners