MPG Real Estate buys Braddock Place
MPG Real Estate in Bethesda has bought the Braddock Place office complex. Located in Old Town Alexandria, the 3-year-old, four-building property was purchased for $106.5 million from ING Clarion of New York. The seller had acquired it for $80 million three years earlier. Cassidy & Pinkard announced the Braddock Place transaction on June 18.
The complex includes three seven-story buildings and one four-story structure, which provide a total of 348,218 square feet. Located across from the Braddock Road Metro Station and one mile north of the Capital Beltway, Braddock Place is now 96 percent occupied. Tenants include the federal General Services Administration, General Dynamics and the National Industries for the Blind.
The seller was represented by Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers in Washington, D.C. Paul Collins, the agencys managing director, explained why Braddock Place had attracted several bids. The property is attractive because of the Metro, the amenities and people just love Old Town, he said. Bill Collins, Drew Flood and James Cassidy had joined him in handling the transaction.
Headquartered in Bethesda, MPG focuses on East Coast markets including the Washington, D.C. area.
VA makes gains in stopping foreclosures
The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that its loan counselors intervention programs have reduced the number of veterans defaulting on their home loans. April data shows that these foreclosures are down more than 50 percent from the same months in 2003.
The VA gives much of the credit to its counselors at nine regional loan centers, including the Federal VA office in Roanoke (540-857-2108). They are assigned to help people with VA-guaranteed loans avoid foreclosure through counseling and special financing arrangements. The counselors also can assist other veterans with financial problems. VA counselors have helped about 74,000 veterans, active-duty members and survivors keep their homes since 2000, a savings to the government of nearly $1.5 billion.
VA is reaching out to veterans both those who use our home-loan guaranty program and those who dont take advantage of our guarantees to keep people in their homes, said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. Im proud of our solid record of success in helping veterans and active-duty personnel deal with financial crises.
About 2.3 million home loans still in effect were purchased through VAs home-loan guarantee program, which makes home loans more affordable for veterans, active-duty members and some surviving spouses by protecting lenders from loss if the borrower fails to repay the loan. More than 90 percent of VA-backed home loans were given without a down payment.
Last year, about 135,000 veterans, active-duty service members and survivors received loans valued at nearly $24 billion.