DC Project: Hines Buys Archstone Stake

In Washington, D.c., The Washington D.C. office of Hines reported the purchase of the ownership interest of their partner, Archstone, in the multi-use CityCenterDC project that is currently under construction in downtown Washington, D.C. The purchase of Archstone’s interest in CityCenterDC was completed in connection with the purchase by Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities of Archstone Enterprises LP.

The Hines | Archstone partnership was chosen by the District of Columbia in 2003 to develop the massive $700 million project on the site of the city’s old convention center. In 2011, the partnership secured equity financing from its anchor investor Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the real estate investment arm of the Qatari Investment Authority, and the financing was put in place by Barwa Bank’s investment banking subsidiary, The First Investor (TFI), which is a co-investor and manages the dedicated TFI U.S. Real Estate Fund. Construction began on Phase I of the project in March 2011.

In addition to increasing its incremental ownership in the overall multi-use project, Hines will assume development responsibility for the two large apartment buildings comprising 458 units in the center of CityCenterDC.

Construction on Phase II of CityCenterDC is slated to commence in the first half of 2014. It will consist of a 370-room luxury hotel and an additional 73,000 sq ft of retail space.