Opus To Develop $180M Green Office

WASHINGTON, DC-Opus East LLC plans to develop a $180-million office building at 1015 Half St., SE using equity provided by institutional investors advised by Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI). The company plans to start construction on the 10-story, 400,000-sf building in October.

Opus East acquired the site from Potomac Investment Properties Inc. Eric Berkman and Steve Gichner from Grubb & Ellis brokered the deal, with financing provided by LaSalle National Bank.

The building will front L, Half and K streets. Steve Cohen, senior director of real estate at Opus East, tells GlobeSt.com that the company plans to apply for Silver LEED certification when the building is complete in late 2009.

The company is developing the building, which will be named later, on spec. Besides the office component, the building also has the potential for first-floor retail space.

“We have had tremendous acceptance of 100 M St., from the market,” Cohen says, noting that the building is now one third leased even though delivery is expected in late 2008. Last month, for instance, Opus signed a 10-year lease with Parsons Corp., a worldwide engineering and construction company, to lease part of the building.

Demand for space in this part of town is huge, Cohen says, fueled in part by the development of the Waterfront and Baseball stadium. In addition, 1015 Half St.’s Silver LEED certification will attract a certain caliber of tenants that Opus East is seeking. “More and more tenants are looking at sustainable space,” Cohen says.