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byline: Paula C. Squires

Office of Justice renews 252,000-square-foot lease in D.C.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently entered into a 10-year, 251,795 square-foot renewal lease for the Office of Justice at 810 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C.

Kurt Stout, executive vice president of Colliers Government Solutions and F. Joseph Moravec, an independent consultant, represented the building’s landlord and owner, KanAm Grund Kapitalanlagegesellschaft. The German open-end real estate fund has owned the property since 2003. Henry Chapman and Sara Dunstan of CBRE represented GSA.

The GSA Public Buildings Service (PBS) acquires space on behalf of the federal government through new construction and leasing. It also acts as a caretaker for federal properties across the country. PBS owns or leases 9,624 assets, maintains an inventory of more than 370.2 million square feet of workspace for 1.1 million federal employees and preserves more than 481 historic properties.

Federal judge dismisses class action lawsuits against Apple REIT Cos.

A federal judge has dismissed securities litigation against Richmond-based Apple REIT Cos., a real estate investment trust that invests primarily in hotels.

U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the Eastern District of New York upheld a motion to dismiss a consolidated class action complaint against Apple REIT Cos. and several of its funds in a court order issued on April 3. She ruled that investors had received sufficient disclosure to understand the risks of investing in the nontraded public companies. Matsumoto said in her order that Apple’s investment objectives “did not constitute actionable misrepresentations or omissions.”

The judgment was in favor of Apple REIT Six, Apple REIT Seven, Apple REIT Eight, Apple REIT Nine, Apple REIT Ten, the company’s board of directors and certain officers and advisory companies, including David Lerner Associates Inc.

The motion to dismiss was granted with “prejudice,” meaning plaintiffs cannot refile the case. News about the court’s decision was publicized in a press release distributed on Business Wire.

Kelly Clarke, director of investor services for Apple REIT Cos., said in an email Wednesday, “We do not have any comments outside of the press release at this time.“

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by six investors who claimed they had been misled about the risks of the investment. It built upon allegations in a complaint filed that same year by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against David Lerner Associates Inc. (DLA), based in Syosset, N.Y. — the firm that exclusively sold Apple REITs shares to investors around the country.

FINRA’s complaint focused on the marketing of the Apple REITS. In October 2012, FINRA sanctioned Lerner and his company, ordering it to pay $12 million in restitution to affected customers who purchased shares in Apple REIT 10, a non-traded $2 billion real estate investment trust.

As the sole distributor of the Apple REITs, FINRA’s statement said DLA “solicited thousands of customers, targeting unsophisticated investors and the elderly and selling the illiquid REIT without performing adequate due diligence to determine whether it was suitable for investors.” The authority said that to sell Apple REIT Ten DLA used “misleading marketing materials that presented performance results for the REITs without disclosing to customers that income from those REITs was insufficient to support the distributions to unit owners.”

In addition, FINRA fined David Lerner, DLA’s founder, president and CEO, $250,000 and suspended him for one year from the securities industry, followed by a two-year suspension from acting as a principal. FINRA said in a statement on the case that Lerner “personally made false claims regarding the investment returns, market values, and performance and prospects of the Apple REITs at numerous DLA investment seminars and in letters to customers.”

In another matter Wednesday, unrelated to the dismissal of the lawsuit, Apple REIT Ten Inc., issued a press release saying it had been notified of an unsolicited tender offer by a group of entities affiliated with MacKenzie Capital Management LP (MCM) to purchase up to 3.5 million shares of common stock and the associated shares of Series A preferred stock of Apple Ten at a price of $5.25 per unit. The offer represents about 5 percent of Apple Ten’s outstanding units. The board of directors of Apple Ten said it evaluated the terms of MCM’s offer and unanimously recommends that stockholders reject the offer, saying it represented an “opportunistic attempt” by MCM to buy shares at an unreasonably low price.

The per-unit book value of the shares as of Dec. 31 was $8.92 per unit, the release said, or $3.67 more than the tender offer price.

Analysis shows pay gap between Virginia men and women

A new analysis shows that women employed full time in Virginia are paid 78 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap in wages of $11,836.

Collectively, this amounts to a loss of more than $14.8 billion in income every year according to a study by the National Partnership for Women & Families, based on U.S. Census Bureau data. The study notes that the money could strengthen the state economy by providing support to the more than 365,000 Virginia households headed by women.

According to the analysis, if the gap between men’s and women’s wages in Virginia were eliminated, each full-time woman could afford to pay for food for nearly two more years, buy 3,300-plus more gallons of gasoline, pay mortgage and utilities for seven more months or pay rent for 11 more months.

“This new analysis illustrates the great harm to families, states and metropolitan areas caused by the pervasive gender-based wage gap,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said in a statement. “With most women serving as essential breadwinners for their families, the loss of this critical income has devastating consequences. Local, state and federal lawmakers should make ending gender discrimination in pay and promotions a much higher priority.”

Nationally, women who hold full-time jobs are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men who hold full-time jobs. African-American women and Latinas fare worse, being paid 64 cents and just 55 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.

According to the National Partnership, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group, the wage gap has been closing at a rate of less than half a cent per year since passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. At this rate, the group said women would not be paid equally for more than 40 years.

The analysis in the report uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and spans all 50 states and the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. Reports for each locality, along with state rankings, are available at www.NationalPartnership.org/Gap.

First Potomac Realty Trust signs new leases at Van Buren Office Park

First Potomac Realty Trust has signed several new leases, totaling more than 23,000 square-feet, at Van Buren Office Park in Herndon.

The company said in a press release that the largest transaction was with Bridges System Integrated LLC, a veteran-owned small business that provides problem solving for critical technology challenges.  Bridges signed a lease for 15,468 square feet. Blue River Information Technology LLC, an information technology company, will occupy 4,320 square feet.

Van Buren Office Park is located just off Fairfax County Parkway close to Washington Dulles International Airport.  The property consists of five, single-story office buildings totaling 108,299 square-feet.  According to First Potomac, the property is 94 percent leased.

 

 

Speculative office project coming to Loudoun County

Buckeye Development will break ground on a $15 million, three-story, Class-A office building in Loudoun County on April 25.

According to an announcement by the county’s Department of Economic Development, the 54,000-square-foot building will be located at 19490 Sandridge Way, near the intersection of Lansdowne Boulevard and Riverside Parkway.

“I’m excited by the growing number of speculative construction projects in the county,” Scott York, chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement.  “Speculative projects like this one speaks volumes about the community’s confidence in the Loudoun business climate.”

Riverside Office Park is located near Lansdowne Resort, Loudoun Inova Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the future One Loudoun World Trade Center. “This new building will be situated on an elevation, and occupants will be able to see for 10 miles from the top floor. This is one of the most desirable office locations in the Lansdowne area,” said Ashburn District Supervisor Ralph Buona.

The office condominium under development by Buckeye, a residential and commercial developer based in Frederick, Md., is the second of four buildings planned for the site. Office suites for sale or lease will range in size from 1,200 square feet to 16,000 square feet per floor. 

Buddy Rizer, the county’s assistant director of economic development, said Riverside Office Park will add to the diversity of inventory in Loudoun County. “We have more than 17 million square feet of office space, more than 14 million of industrial, more than 13 million flex, and about two million of mixed-use. This diversity of product means Loudoun County has a strong economic base.”

Haynes goes green with a $2 million renovation

Haynes Furniture has completed a $2 million project that renovates its front façade and incorporates sustainable design into the big-box store.
The work was done at the company’s 327,000-square-foot flagship store at 5324 Virginia Beach Blvd. in Virginia Beach. Leading the project was green architecture firm Hays + Ewing Design Studio, based out of Charlottesville.
       
“Since Haynes introduced large-volume furniture retailing in 1973, the big-box store has become ubiquitous,” architect Allison Ewing, a principal in the firm, said in a statement. “In working with the team at Haynes, we sought to create a model that would show how large stores can contribute to the streetscape in a positive way,”

Hedges will eventually mask new green sections along the store’s 500-foot white façade. That vegetation, as well as trees and native plantings added to the parking lot, will absorb rainwater to reduce run-off.
The building also has a new high albedo roof, which reflects radiation and reduces energy consumption.

Hayne’s exterior and interior got a new look with the creation of a three-dimensional trellis-style entrance with large windows.  “They are high-performance, so they let daylight in without allowing heat to penetrate,” Ewing said.  “Daylight imparts such a sense of wellbeing. Our goal was to create a sense of walking through sun-dappled woods as you enter the building.”
 
E.J. Strelitz, president of Haynes Furniture, likes the renovation. “We’re very pleased with how our flagship store has been transformed, and we are considering incorporating these elements into other Haynes locations,” he said.

Strelitz noted that the environmentally friendly redesign complements another recent step by Haynes.  “Much of the furniture we offer through our ‘Other Side of Haynes’ lifestyle area is made of repurposed wood and metal, further showing how design can help the environment and convey style at the same time.”       

Haynes operates five Haynes Furniture stores, with showrooms in Virginia Beach, Newport News, Richmond, Henrico County and Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Floor and Décor leases 80,180 square feet in Henrico County

Floor and Décor has leased 80,180 square feet of retail space at 5432 Glenside Drive in Henrico.  James Gresock and Read F. Goode Jr. of S. L. Nusbaum Realty Co.  of represented the landlord.

In other Richmond area transactions handled by Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, Mygrant Glass renewed a lease of 41,540 square feet in Enterchange at Northlake on N. Lakeridge Parkway in Hanover County.  N. Dean Meyer and Evan M. Magrill handled lease negotiations.

Ferguson Enterprises renewed a 17,600-square-foot lease at 8438 Old Richfood Rd. in Hanover County. Scott Douglas handled lease negotiations. 

 

 

Hildrup Cos. leases 27,000 square feet in Henrico County

Hildrup Cos. Inc. has leased 27,000 square feet at 4295 Carolina Ave. in Henrico County. The Richmond office of CBRE handled the transaction.

In other deals for CBRE, Dal-Tile Distribution leased 19,500 square feet at 2511 Brittons Hill Road in Richmond, and Diverse City Buffet leased 12,800 square feet at 7801 W.  Broad Street in Henrico.

New luxury hotel celebrates with a ribbon cutting in Georgetown

A new luxury hotel has opened in Georgetown. Last week brought the ribbon cutting for Capella Washington, D.C.—the first Capella-branded hotel in the U.S.

Capella Hotels and Resorts operate luxury boutique hotels in gateway cities around the world, including Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Singapore. It owns the 49-room Georgetown property along Castleton Hotel Partners I, LLC.

The hotel’s location, bordering the historic C&O Canal, provides business and leisure guests with access to Washington, including the National Mall and Smithsonian museums, the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

Amenities at the property include a complimentary refreshment center, complimentary laundry pressing service of up to five pieces and free Wi-Fi. Special guest services include private after-hours shopping at some of the city’s high-end retail stores. Capella also includes a restaurant and a bar. The hotel is located at 1050 31st Street, NW.

Based in Chevy Chase, the Capella Hotel Group is headed by Horst H. Schulze, the former president and CEO of Ritz-Carlton.

 

Sneak peek at Sheila Johnson’s new resort set to open in August

Just a few minutes away from Middleburg’s main drag on West Washington Street, one of the newest luxury resorts in the U.S. is taking shape. Sheila Johnson’s $100 million plus, 168-room Salamander Resort & Spa in on schedule to open Aug. 29, just in time for Labor Day weekend.

It’s situated behind Johnson’s gourmet store, Market Salamander, down a long and winding drive that transports visitors to what looks like an equestrian estate. A grand lawn and circular drive set off the resort’s exterior of stucco, slate and fieldstone. While the outside is finished, workers still are toiling on interior finishes.

“We’re coming down the home stretch. It’s about 85 percent complete,” said Prem Devadas, president of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, Johnson’s hospitality company that owns a portfolio of several properties. Once the resort opens, it will employ about 300 full- and part-time workers, he adds.

During a recent hard-hat tour, Johnson and guests maneuvered around cables, ladders and bins of sand that construction workers use to set the stone in place on many of the property’s terraces.

Set amid 340 acres in Loudoun County’s rolling horse country, the Salamander Resort and Spa was named by Forbes magazine as one of the Top 20 Most Anticipated Hotel Openings in the world in 2013. According to Devadas, the resort already has booked eight weddings and small and large conferences.

One amenity that sets this resort apart: Guests can bring their horses. Designed to complement the traditions of Middleburg — where Johnson has lived since 1996 — the property includes an equestrian center with a 22-stall stable, a practice ring and miles of trails with views of the Bull Run Mountains.

Johnson, a well-known philanthropist and entrepreneur, doesn’t horse around when it comes to perks for people, either. “People who have enjoyed The Homestead and the Greenbrier, they will find that level of luxury and even more,” she says.

The 260,000-square-foot property includes a library, billiards room, wine bar, small retail shop, grand ballroom and conference rooms and a signature dining room with a 42-foot, peaked roof that will offer views of the horsing area outside.

Then there’s a 23,000-square-foot spa with fountains and a 14-foot, tiled glass and stone waterfall feature that drops into a whirlpool tub. It sits below a ceiling outfitted with hundreds of tiny white lights to evoke a starry sky. The price for all this luxury? Rates during the peak season will range from $425 to $575 per night for a 540-square-foot guest room. Prices for larger suites will go from $775 to $3,500 per night.

Along the tour, Johnson and Devadas show renderings, which illustrate what rooms will actually look like when the work is done. Johnson is particularly excited about the kitchen area. It will be a culinary teaching area, she said. “You’ll be able to look into the main kitchen. We want to offer cooking classes. We will have monitors, and they can watch the meal being made for the day.”

Johnson, CEO and founder of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, founded the company in 2005, shortly after her divorce from Robert Johnson. They were the founders of Black Entertainment Television (BET), which was sold to Viacom in 2000 for about $3 billion.

Originally, Johnson had hoped to open the resort in 2010. A series of obstacles, including the recession, the construction of a new wastewater facility for Middleburg that could accommodate the spa’s water needs as well, and the reinstallation of most of the resort’s custom windows, delayed the opening.

“It’s been a long journey,” says Johnson. To read more on how her project evolved, see the June issue of Virginia Business, which feature an expanded story and interview with Johnson.