While many big-name investors sit on their hands, Matthew Jemal and the Douglas family’s new platform, Jemal Equities, has been quietly feasting on distressed office buildings across the Washington region. In a matter of months, the group has shifted from buying loans to landing foreclosure wins and fast off-market acquisitions, snapping up properties that not long ago felt out of reach for most local buyers.
In a recent run of deals, Jemal Equities has picked up four D.C.-area office properties totaling roughly 598,000 square feet for about $89.3 million combined. The spree includes the July purchase of 1750 H St. NW for $28.8 million, a Rosslyn Wilson Boulevard building bought for roughly $28 million, a January buy of a 1920s era Colorado Building near the White House for about $20 million, and a loan and auction play for the 155,000 square foot Lion Building, which the firm secured with an opening auction bid of $12.5 million, as reported by Bisnow.
“We’re deal junkies,” Matthew Jemal told Bisnow, and brokers say the pace backs that up. The team buys loans, files foreclosure affidavits when that is the path forward, and shows up at Alex Cooper auction rooms ready to turn debt claims into actual buildings. That hands on style, with Jemal Equities directing renovations, lining up contractors and moving leasing quickly, has helped make the group one of the most active buyers in the city, Bisnow reports.
How the Market Handed the Jemals the Bargains
The buying streak is riding a broader collapse in downtown office values, one that has pushed lenders to sell at a discount or take properties to auction while large institutional investors mostly wait on the sidelines. The federal government's cancellation of the planned SEC headquarters, a high profile project that stalled when financing failed to come together, helped push additional assets into play, as reported by Commercial Observer. Other recent downtown sales show just how steep the markdowns can be, with prominent office buildings trading at a fraction of their prior prices, a pattern CoStar has documented.
What This Could Mean for Downtown
City incentives and lender moves are already reshaping what is possible for these older office assets. D.C.'s tax abatement and office conversion programs have helped kick off a wave of proposals to turn underused buildings into housing or mixed use projects. Market advisers and local economic development groups say those tools, and the financing stacks they help unlock, give buyers a realistic conversion exit strategy in some cases, according to analysis from CBRE and local reports from WDCEP.
What to Watch Next
More loan trades, courthouse auctions and quick rehab jobs are likely as investors test both leasing demand and the math on conversions. For now, the Jemals’ mix of credit buys and rapid, hands on repositioning has already reshuffled ownership in parts of Dupont, H Street and Rosslyn, a reminder that downtown’s comeback could be driven as much by nimble family offices as by the big institutional funds still waiting for the next memo.
