Hines to acquire trophy DC office for $800m

Constitution Center

Hines has agreed to acquire Constitution Center, the largest privately owned office building in Washington, DC. According to data provider Real Capital Analytics, the Houston-based real estate firm has entered into an agreement to purchase the trophy property from David Nassif Associates for $800 million. A spokesperson for Hines declined to comment.

Constitution Center, located at 400 7th Street SW, is a 1.4 million-square-foot Class A office building encompassing an entire city block. Current tenants in the nine-storey building, which is fully leased, include the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. 

David Nassif Associates had put the building up for sale at the end of April, giving the marketing assignment to Eastdil Secured. The Washington, DC-based development company built the property in 1970 after acquiring a 5.2-acre site from the Redevelopment Land Agency. In 2006, the firm announced a $220 million renovation of the asset, then known as the David Nassif Building, and renamed it Constitution Center.