WASHINGTON, DC–Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners is in the process of renovating two vacant buildings it owns in the local area.
One is Centerstone at Tysons, a six-story office it owns with Griffith Properties, located at 1550 Westbranch Dr. The companies purchased the property in an off-market transaction in July 2015. At the time of the sale, the property was fully leased to The MITRE Corp., which was expected to relocate. Now MITRE has vacated the property and the renovation is underway.
The other building is located at 11493 Sunset Hills Rd., which Rubenstein recently renamed The Junction. It is a five-story, 180,000-square-foot office building in Reston, which Rubenstein acquired vacant in November 2016. Rubenstein has retained DBI Architects to design a collaborative space that will include the conversion of a 4,000-square foot loading area into a barista station, food service and indoor/outdoor tenant lounge. The Docks, as this area will be called, will have 14’ plus ceilings and five glass garage doors. The renovations are expected to be completed by Q1 2018. A Newmark Knight Frank team led by Andy Klaff and Steve Hoffeditz will lease the building.
GlobeSt.com spoke with Read Mortimer, Vice President for Rubenstein, to find out more about its plans for these buildings. Following are excerpts from the conversation.
How the projects are penciling in.
We are investing $10 million plus for The Junction and more than $2 million for Centerstone. We are below replacement costs for both of these properties.
What that means for our go-to-market strategy.
Because we are at below replacement cost we can be competitive from a rate standpoint. Both building will be rented out in the mid $30s per square foot.
Why I’m renovating instead of buying.
This is our MO. We do some ground up development, but what we specialize in is deep value-add office projects. And in terms of these two buildings specifically, our view is that you can acquire high quality bones, reposition them to improve the amenities and create a high-class user experience and still be at a competitive price point.
What else I am working on.
We have some projects that we own and we are working on repositioning plans for these buildings. There is more activity in the pipeline, in other words.