AREA Property Partners VEF Fund VII Closes Sale of D.C. Property 500 First Street N.W.

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- AREA Property Partners Value Enhancement Fund VII has completed the sale of 500 First Street N.W. in Washington, D.C. to First Potomac Realty, AREA announced.  The sale price of the 129,035-square-foot office building was $68 million.

AREA VEF Fund VII and Van Ness Property Group, an affiliate of the Polinger Company, purchased the building in 2008 for $44.9 million from Gould Property Company.  Over the past two years, AREA and Van Ness completed a major renovation of the existing tenant's space, facade, elevators, garage and lobby that resulted in the tenant's early lease-up of the building's remaining 16,000 square feet.

"We are extremely gratified with the successful conclusion of this transaction, which has yielded a highly attractive return especially given the climate of the past two years," said Steven Wolf, AREA partner who oversees the firm's VEF funds.

The building, located in the Capitol Hill submarket, is fully leased by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a U.S. Department of Justice agency.  The lease extends until July 2016.

AREA's Value Enhancement Funds employ a flexible investment strategy focusing on existing, income-producing U.S. properties which present opportunities to increase value through repositioning, releasing, and asset enhancement.  AREA acquired the VEF Funds in 2004.  Since the inception of the first fund in 1993, Value Enhancement Funds I through VII have invested in more than 145 transactions with an aggregate value of $5.9 billion.

About AREA Property Partners

AREA Property Partners, formerly known as Apollo Real Estate Advisors, is a leading international real estate investor and fund manager on behalf of prominent government and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and high net worth individuals.  Since the firm's founding in 1993, AREA Property Partners has overseen the establishment of multiple real estate funds and joint ventures totaling $13 billion in equity commitments for investments in the United States and globally.  Its funds have collectively invested in over 515 transactions with an aggregated value in excess of $60 billion.  The firm has offices in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Luxembourg and Mumbai.  The firm's Web site is www.areapropertypartners.com.

SOURCE AREA Property Partners