Prime US Reit signs 120,000 sq ft lease at Waterfront at Washingtonian in Gaithersburg, Maryland

[SINGAPORE] The manager of Prime US real estate investment trust (Reit) announced on Thursday (Jul 10) that it signed a new 11-year lease of minimum 120,000 square feet (sq ft) at a rebranded Waterfront At Washingtonian in Gaithersburg, suburban Maryland, in Washington DC, in end June.

The Class A office tower, located within the I-270 corridor submarket of Gaithersburg, was formerly One Washingtonian Centre. It has a net lettable area of 325,455 sq ft, and underwent a comprehensive asset enhancement initiative, which was completed in October 2024.

Some of its features include a 1,800 sq ft conference centre with flexible, divisible partitions to accommodate a variety of meeting and event needs; and two new tenant lounges, where one is a formal lounge serving the conference centre, and another is a more casual space for informal gatherings.

This new anchor lease, together with earlier leasing activities, would bring the building to above 85 per cent occupancy, up from 33 per cent prior to the building renovations. 

The tenant is an American advanced clean energy and fuel design engineering company, backed by a global e-commerce player.

The deal follows a new 43,000 sq ft lease signed in the middle of June at another asset, Village Centre Station I, with a global engineering and consultancy firm who is also a new tenant at Waterfront At Washingtonian, said chief executive of the manager Rahul Rana. It comes after refinancing with US$550 million in new credit facilities as well, which was completed in August 2024.

“As we witness a new tenant expanding with us in multiple locations, from Gaithersburg to Denver, we are confident to see a net gain in overall portfolio occupancy by end of this year,” said Rana.

The Singapore-listed Reit has a portfolio of 13 Class A US office assets across 12 diversified submarkets.

Units of Prime US Reit closed at 1.3 per cent or US$0.002 at US$0.157 on Wednesday.