First Potomac Realty Trust sells Northern Virginia office/business portfolio for $90.5 million

First Potomac Realty Trust, a Bethesda, Md.-based real estate investment trust, has announced the sale of a portfolio of eight properties in Northern Virginia to an affiliated company of Finmarc Management Inc. for $90.5 million. The non-core portfolio of 26 buildings totals 946,000 square feet and was 78 percent leased, according to First Potomac.

The sale represents the continuation of the REIT’s previously announced plan to dispose of $350 million in assets. Proceeds will be used to fund the redemption of a portion of the company's remaining 7.75 percent Series A preferred shares.

“As we've discussed previously, the proceeds will be utilized to redeem a portion of our outstanding preferred shares, as we work to strengthen our balance sheet and improve our liquidity,” Robert Milkovich, CEO of First Potomac Realty Trust, said in a statement.

The eight properties in the Northern Virginia portfolio include:
Enterprise Center in Chantilly
Gateway Centre Manassas, Linden Business Center and Windsor at Battlefield, all located in Manassas
Herndon Corporate Center and Van Buren Office Park in Herndon
Prosperity Business Center in Merrifield
Reston Business Campus in Reston

Jim Meisel and Bruce Strasburg of HFF represented First Potomac in the sale.

First Potomac Realty Trust focuses on owning, operating, developing office and business park properties in the greater Washington, D.C. region.  As of Dec. 31, its consolidated portfolio totaled 7.5 million square feet.
Finmarc, also located in Bethesda, operates a portfolio of 5 million square feet of properties in the Washington, D.C., metro area. According to the company’s website, the portfolio includes hotel, retail, office, flex and warehouse properties.