January was full of disruptions to the financial markets—some expected, some not so expected. The White House announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which many expected, only to announce a 30-day reprieve two days later – a relief to the market. Not anticipated was news out of China that DeepSeek claimed to have created an OpenAI competitor in a fraction of the time and cost. Both the tariff and DeepSeek news sent the markets into a tailspin as volatility surged.
Yet through it all, the CRE markets soldiered on.
Big-ticket transactions remained plentiful in January, with 43 nine-figure deals last month. This is up from 40 in December and 41 in November. The average sale price of the nine-figure January deals was a little more than $215 million.
Beyond the 43 big-ticket sales last month, another 59 transactions fell between $50 million and $100 million. This came even as the yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 4.80% around mid-month.
The two biggest transactions came from non-traditional asset types.
- Blackstone paid $1 billion for the Potomac Energy Center, a 774-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant Leesburg, VA. The property is located in Loudoun County—arguably the heart of data center infrastructure in the U.S., well positioning the energy center to power much of the submarket’s growth in the region. The seller was ARES Management.
- AT&T followed suit with a $850 million sale-leaseback of its underused central office facilities that house its legacy copper networks to real estate development firm Reign Capital.
On the more traditional front, there were 12 multifamily properties sold for more than $100 million. A pair of DC-area apartment complexes topped the list. Both properties were acquired by Sentinel Real Estate, a firm with a growing presence in the Mid-Atlantic market.
- Brentford at the Mile Apartments in Tysons Corner, VA sold for $167 million ($407K per unit).
- Aventon Crown in Gaithersburg, MD was sold for $150 million ($389K per unit).
In the hotel sector, two big sales made headlines.
- The PGA National Resort in Florida sold to Henderson Park for $425 million, up from $220 million in 2018. The resort spans 807 acres and includes 360 guest rooms, 99 holes of golf, a 40,000-square-foot spa, six restaurants, and a sports and racquet club.
- In New York City, the Kimpton Hotel Eventi sold for $175 million—$600K per key—to Blackstone. The Manhattan hotel—near Madison Square Park, Penn Station and the Empire State Building—features 292 rooms, three restaurants, a 450-spot parking garage and 45,000 square feet of meeting space.
Several big office sales were reported in Manhattan with price tags of $147 million to more than $200 million. But as has been the case for the last three years, those sales represented discounts of 40% to 55% from the previous respective sales prices.
Download the full list of January buyers in both the nine-figure deal category and the $50 million–$100 million range. Plus, tune in to our podcast, The CRE Weekly Digest, for in-depth commentary on early dealmaking trends and emerging opportunities.
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