Building Known for Harboring Watergate Burglars Trades for $68M
CIBC Bank USA provided a $42 million acquisition loan.
Boathouse Apartments at 2601 Virginia Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Urban Investment Partners
University students living in Washington, D.C., could again have the chance to rent a unit once used during a stakeout by the Watergate burglars. Binoculars not included.
Up Campus Student Living has purchased 2601 Virginia Avenue NW, these days known as the Boathouse Apartments, from Urban Investment Partners (UIP) for $67.5 million, according to Bisnow. The building features 250 units along with 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
SEE ALSO: Finmarc Buys Maryland Retail Plaza for $30M
Up Campus partnered with Palmor Capital, Bridge Invest and Sabal Investment Holdings on the purchase, with CIBC Bank USA providing a $42 million acquisition loan, per Bisnow.
Built in 1962 as a Howard Johnson hotel, the property played a role in the infamous Watergate scandal that rocked the Nixon Administration and famously led to the first American presidential resignation.
A group of burglars, who in 1972 broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the neighboring Watergate complex, rented Rooms 419 and 723 at the hotel before they made their move.
George Washington University eventually acquired the building in the decades that followed, using it as student dormitories. UIP bought the building from the university in 2016 for $36 million, later investing some $40 million on property upgrades and expansions to rebrand it as the Boathouse in 2020.
Representatives for Up Campus and UIP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While 2601 Virginia Avenue has remained more or less financially stable since the Watergate scandal, the Watergate office complex has found itself on rockier ground recently.
Morningstar issued a delinquency report late last year on a $73 million CMBS loan tied to the property, Commercial Observer reported at the time. Yet payments from building owner Friedman Capital have reportedly come back on-track thanks to “robust” leasing, according to firm founder Ben Friedman.
Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.
2601 Virginia Avenue NW, Ben Friedman, Boathouse Apartments, Bridge Invest, CIBC Bank USA, Democratic National Committee, Friedman Capital, George Washington University, Howard Johnson, Morningstar, Palmor Capital, Sabal Investment Holdings, Watergate, Up Campus Student Living, Urban Investment Partners
