Boston Properties continued its march on Reston commercial office space last week. The Massachusetts-based real estate investment trust acquired the remaining interests of One and Two Freedom Square at Reston Town Center for more than $200 million, company officials announced.
Boston Properties, which already owned nearly 38 percent of the properties, paid $36 million in cash and the company also assumed all remaining mortgage debt on One Freedom Square, which now totals approximately $75.2 million, and repaid in full the mortgage debt on One Freedom Square for slightly more than $70 million.
At a time when nearly 30 percent of office space in the Dulles Corridor lays vacant, both One and Two Freedom Square are 100 percent fully leased, the company said in a release announcing the purchase.
Despite the soft commercial market, the company announced on Aug. 6 that it had purchased the rights to approximately 507,000 square feet of future development rights in an adjacent surface parking lot in the commercial, residential and retail mixed-use town center for $13.5 million, bringing the company’s total investment in the two neighboring projects to an estimated $205 million.
"This transaction concludes our partnership with Terrabrook on four successful developments in Reston, one of the best office markets in Northern Virginia, and reinforces our commitment to Reston Town Center," said Raymond A. Ritchey, the company’s executive vice president. "It also positions us as the dominant property owner in this market and places us in a desirable development position for future growth."
Boston Properties and Terrabrook, a Dallas-based commercial developer, had jointly built the twin side-by-side office buildings overlooking Reston Town Center.
The transfer marks the end of an era for Terrabrook, an influential player in the development of modern day Reston. In an Aug. 8 company release, officials announced that they would continue to focus their development sights on other planned communities in the metropolitan area, including Clarksburg Town Center in Montgomery County, Md. and the Broadlands in Loudoun County.
"The timing was opportune for Terrabrook to achieve its portfolio objectives by transferring its interests in the buildings and land to Boston Properties," company officials said.
With its latest Reston acquisition, Boston Properties now holds over 2.5 million square feet of existing Class-A office space, including Discovery Square also in the town center and two five story Sunrise Valley Drive office buildings entirely leased by Lockheed Martin Company.