Originally published: Bisnow | May 08, 2015 | by Tania Anderson
Warehouse into retail. Office into creative space. Marco Rubio into a hard-line conservative on immigration. DC is known for its repositioning opportunities, driven by law firms and the GSA wanting efficient, light-filled space and all the amenities. To help you keep track, we’re bringing you DC’s Repositioning Boom on May 28 at the Ronald Reagan Building, starting at 7:45am.
Boundary Cos founder John Wilkinson (pictured this morning with two of three daughters) will be a panelist. In a venture with JBG and a CBRE Group affiliate, his company paid $80M to buy 1055 Thomas Jefferson St in Georgetown, a 232k SF office building along the canal. Look for upgrades to lobbies, bathrooms, and to bring in more natural light. John tells us the venture is also exploring adding fitness and conference centers, rooftop amenities and more retail. John and JBG are also in the early stages of a neighborhood repositioning project in Northeast, replacing abandoned warehouses with about 700 for-rent and for-sale residential units and 50k SF of retail. The retail will be well suited for the maker community (space for companies or inventors to build products), he says. The 700k SF project is valued at over $200M and won’t displace any existing tenants.
Georgetown is the perfect spot for repositioning projects because its supply is constrained, and it has neighborhood charm, retail and entertainment, says John, and it’s one of the few established DC neighborhoods with access to water. Plus the historic architecture lends itself to attracting the creative class. (Tech people have special gills that require exposed brick to breathe.) We recently named Georgetown as one of DC’s tech hubs, with companies like Rally Health and EverFi. Speaking of creative, that’s John at the Kennedy Center. John previously worked in JBG’s investment group and launched Boundary Cos in early 2014.
https://www.bisnow.com/washington-dc/news/commercial-real-estate/dcs-repositioning-revolution-45709
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