Federal Capital Partners, a leading Mid-Atlantic office, multi-family and mixed-use investment firm, has announced the acquisition of 1616 Walnut Street, a historic, 25-story, 279,770 square foot office building located in Center City, Philadelphia. The property, currently 90% leased, was acquired through a joint venture with Philadelphia-based Cross Properties and 806 Capital from the Isard-Greenberg Company, which owned the building for more than 30 years. Jones Lang LaSalle, a leading property manager for institutional quality real estate, has been retained to manage the building.
“FCP is pleased to work once again with 806 Capital, along with local real estate partner, Cross Properties, in the acquisition of this fine downtown building,” said FCP Managing Partner, Lacy Rice. 1616 Walnut marks FCP’s second acquisition in downtown Philadelphia after the company’s investment in 1701 Arch Street in July 2011.
Located in the heart of Center City’s high end retail, dining and shopping district, 1616 Walnut encompasses 188,560 square feet of office space, 7,210 square feet of prime retail space and a 160-space integrated parking garage. The building is proximate to numerous transit options including Septa bus routes, the Market-Frankford and Broad Street subway lines and the regional rail lines at Suburban Station and is surrounded by the amenity rich blocks that define Center City. Plans for the property include a possible conversion to a residential use over time.
Built in 1929, 1616 Walnut Street was lauded as an architectural marvel at the time, receiving top honors at the 12th International Buildings Congress in Budapest. Its advanced five-story parking garage made it one of the first properties to feature on-site parking, which was then considered a novelty. The iconic property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on January 7, 1982.
About Federal Capital Partners
Federal Capital Partners (FCP), based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, is a privately held real estate investment company that has acquired interests in more than $3 billion in assets since 2003. FCP invests in commercial and multi-family assets throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, including Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, the Virginia Tidewater region and the Raleigh/Durham area and currently manages a portfolio of approximately $1.8 billion in real estate assets throughout those markets. FCP’s managing partners are Tom Carr, Esko Korhonen, Alex Marshall and Lacy Rice.
Through its discretionary co-mingled private equity funds, FCP invests directly in core plus, value-add, opportunistic and development properties. In addition, FCP provides both equity and debt capital to real estate operating partners and is aggressively seeking office, residential (for sale and for rent), industrial and retail investments in all of its target markets. Over the last two years, FCP has been one of the most active real estate investment companies in the Mid-Atlantic region, investing approximately $1 billion in transactions that ranged from direct investment as a JV partner in a downtown office building, to the purchase of a note of a foreclosed retail center, and the funding through preferred equity and mezzanine capital for a multi-family residential development. For further information on FCP, please visit www.fcpdc.com
About Cross Properties
Cross Properties is a real estate investment and development company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Led by a team of experienced real estate professionals, Cross Properties specializes in creating value by recapitalizing distressed and underperforming assets. Over the last 10 years, the team, led by David Blumenfeld and Kevin Michals, has acquired, developed and managed over five million square feet of office, retail, multifamily, and hospitality assets throughout the northeastern United States. For more information, please visit www.crossprop.com
About 806 Capital
806 Capital, LLC (“806”) is a real estate investment, development and management company with offices in Philadelphia and Chicago. With particular expertise in multi-family, office and retail real estate, 806 has experience with almost all product types and deal structures. Over the past decade, 806 has acquired, repositioned and/or redeveloped over 1MM square feet of underutilized real estate into hundreds of new residential units, office space, medical office, retail, and senior housing. In total, 806 has invested approximately $100MM in equity capital and acquired interests in, or redeveloped, more than $750MM of real estate assets over the past decade. 806 has accomplished this through a combination of its own deals and in joint ventures with institutional private equity firms. More information is available at www.806capital.com