Bethesda, Maryland-based
First Potomac Realty Trust (
FPO
)
, a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced
the signing of four new lease agreements for 49,308 square feet of
space in Oakton, Virginia.
The lease agreements were signed for the 181,400 square-foot
office property, Three Flint Hill, located at 3201 Jermantown Road
in Oakton, Virginia. In April 2010, First Potomac acquired the
8-story office property for $13.6 million and has now completed an
extensive redevelopment of the property for $10 million.
The building is the first renovated office building in the
Virginia submarket region to gain LEED Gold certification. Three
Flint Hill is currently occupied by renowned tenants like CDM, Leap
Frog Solutions and The Susan Hicks Group PC.
After the agreement, the property will now have four more
renowned firms as its tenants. These include
Ameriprise Financial Inc. (
AMP
)
, Stratford University, A. J. Dwoskin & Associates and
Chadwick, Washington, Moriarty, Elmore & Bunn, P.C. They are
leased 3,056 square-feet, 14,312 square-feet, 14,300 square-feet
and 17,640 square-feet of space, respectively.
Management believes First Potomac will benefit from the
agreement as it will increase the company's rental revenue in the
coming quarters. The company expects that the established and
efficient tenants will likely deliver a strong base for the
long-term success of the agreement.
However, the Virginian market is not free of competition. One of
the company's peers,
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (
WRE
)
recently acquired a 147,000 square foot office building named
'Fairgate at Ballston' in Arlington, Virginia, for $52.25
million.
First Potomac owns, develops, redevelops and operates business
parks and industrial properties in the metropolitan area of
Washington, D.C., and other submarkets of Maryland and Virginia. As
of March 31, 2012, the company's portfolio comprises more than 14
million square feet of space and consists of 43% office, 21%
industrial properties and 36% business parks.
The company will likely release its second quarter 2012 earnings
on July 23, 2012. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second quarter
2012 FFO per share (fund from operations) is pegged at 27 cents. We
presently have long-term Neutral recommendation and a Zacks #3 Rank
for First Potomac, implying a short-term Hold rating.
AMERIPRISE FINL (AMP): Free Stock Analysis
Report
FIRST POTOMAC (FPO): Free Stock Analysis Report
WASHINGTON REIT (WRE): Free Stock Analysis
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