WRIT Acquires $49M Medical Portfolio

ROCKVILLE, MD-Washington Real Estate Investment Trust continues to add to its medical office holdings. The REIT has just acquired Woodholme Medical Office Building and Woodholme Center for $49 million. Baltimore-based Greenebaum & Rose Associates was the seller.
The two buildings total 198,000 net rentable sf and include 844 parking spaces. Located off the Baltimore Beltway in the Pikesville/Owings Mill submarket, the properties are part of the Woodholme Center, a 22-acre, mixed-use development that also has retail, restaurants, and a rehabilitation center.

The five-story Woodholme Medical Office building has a 97% occupancy rate and features 125,000 net rentable sf and 567 parking spaces. Woodholme Center, a four-story class A office building, has 73,000 net rentable sf and 277 parking spaces. It is 95% leased primarily to law and professional service firms.

The portfolio is expected to achieve a first-year, unleveraged yield of 7% on a cash basis and 7.2% on a GAAP basis, according to WRIT. As part of the transaction, the company will assume a $21.2 million loan with an interest rate of 5.3%. The remaining balance will be funded through its line of credit.
Stewart Greenebaum, founding partner of Greenebaum & Rose, tells GlobeSt.com that the buildings have performed very well. “They are first class, suburban buildings.” The company decided to sell for a myriad of reasons, according to Greenebaum. “Properties of this nature are management intense and we are a relatively small company. Also, we prefer development deals where we build. With cap rates being where they are now this was an ideal time to go in this direction.”

This acquisition is the latest of a series of medical office trades WRIT has made. Last month, it acquired the Ashburn Farm Office Park, a medical office portfolio for $23 million. It is a 100% leased portfolio totaling 75,400 net rentable sf. WRIT expects the portfolio to achieve a first-year, unleveraged yield of 6.6% on a cash basis and 7% on a GAAP basis.

In March WRIT acquired a medical office building in the heart of the District’s West End. The building, 2440 M St., traded for $50 million.

by:www.globest.com