Foreclosure Auction Approaching for L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C.

L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., is nearing a foreclosure auction. This same complex, owned by JBG Smith Properties, had already suffered a financial blow last year.

According to a special report by the Washington Business Journal, a significant portion of the famous Washington, D.C. complex is scheduled for a foreclosure auction next October, a process that will be overseen by Alex Cooper Auctioneers.

This foreclosure of a major Washington city icon clearly reflects the current struggles faced by the area’s commercial real estate sector. Many property owners had hoped to hold out until the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, which occurred this week but seems to have come too late for many property owners and investors.

As indicated in the foreclosure notice, the property currently has an outstanding balance of $238 million on its principal loan, which forced JBG Smith Properties to forfeit the retail areas, two office buildings, and some shared spaces in the complex, abandoning them permanently last year.

L’Enfant Plaza covers nearly 888,000 square feet across four distinct parcels and was built in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a large-scale federal government redevelopment of Southwest Washington, D.C. In 2015, Blackstone Mortgage Trust issued the loan. The most recent appraisal of the property was $365.6 million, and according to financial reports, JBG Smith Properties recorded impairment losses of at least $15 million in both 2021 and 2022.

As for the retail section of the property, it features an underground food court, several garages, and various stores. Office tenants include the National Transportation Safety Board and the District government.

The complex also includes the recently renovated Hilton National Mall/The Wharf, which is not part of the foreclosure auction as it is deeded separately.

JBG Smith Properties, led by Matt Kelly, is not a typical real estate participant, as its holdings consist of 13.4 million square feet of office, multifamily, and retail space, along with 9.3 million square feet of mixed-use development projects. It is also the developer of Amazon’s HQ2 in Crystal City, Virginia.

Available foreclosures:

Washington, D.C.: 5 homes available.

By Elias DaSilva | October 2, 2024.