Society of American Florists Sells Building for $4.75 Million in Alexandria

PHOTO of 1601 Duke St. courtesy of Loopnet.com

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- After more than 30 years, the Society of American Florists will move from their prominent spot at 1601 Duke St., in Alexandria after selling their building for $4.75 million, according to West, Lane & Schlager Realty Advisors, which handled the transaction.

The national trade association for the U.S. floral industry has a new home, also in Alexandria, and also handled by West, Lane & Schlager, purchasing 1001 N. Fairfax St. (see map below) for $2.35 million, according to the DC-based real estate brokerage firm.

WLS Principal Matt Levin, SIOR, LEED AP, as well as Assistant Vice Presidents Andrew Genova and Clark Turner, negotiated on behalf of SAF, which has 6,000 members across the country and was established in 1884.

The nonprofit organization had owned its 1601 Duke St. headquarters for more than three decades, Genova said in a news release announcing the real estate deal. “As our client’s business changed in recent years, so had the useful life of this building, as well as the greater Alexandria submarket,” he said.

That led Genova and his colleagues to develop an analysis of SAF’s real estate situation, in comparison to its peers and the larger market, according to the news release. The WLS team wanted to determine the viability of their client remaining at 1601 Duke St., versus relocating. The brokers discovered numerous challenges, including an inefficient and outdated layout, as well as 40,000 square feet of additional density underutilized by their client.

Coming to 1601 Duke St.: VINCI School Alexandria

Staying at 1601 Duke St. did not make economic sense for SAF when compared to a number of alternative scenarios, WLS noted and they negotiated the sale of the 11,000-square-foot property to the Vinci School. WLS represented SAF in its acquisition of a nearby condominium at 1001 N. Fairfax St., which contains 9,385 square feet.

Vinci School describes itself on its Facebook page as a private STEM school and daycare center for preschool to kindergarten, opening in the fall of 2016.

For the 1601 Duke St. transaction, the WLS team achieved one of the highest per-square-foot sales prices for a property of that location, quality type and size in Old Town Alexandria, Genova pointed out in the news release.

He also noted that various developers showed a lot of interest in 1601 Duke St., however, given the changing political landscape in Alexandria, an acquisition by a developer would have required many contingencies, making the deal much more difficult to finalize in a timeframe acceptable to SAF.

Relying on their relationships and market knowledge, the WLS team secured a more “traditional” purchaser in the Vinci School, “which best aligned with SAF’s exit strategy and allowed the transaction to close quickly,” Genova said, adding that the two deals took roughly six months to complete.

SAF's new home at 1001 N. Fairfax St.

As for its acquisition of 1001 N. Fairfax St., SAF significantly reduced its overall average annual occupancy expenses – a major achievement, since its yearly occupancy costs at 1601 Duke St. were already extremely low.

“Our client had an opportunity to improve its real estate position, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so,” Genova said.

Peter Moran, SAF’s CEO, said he is “elated that the transaction as outlined during the strategy and planning phase was able to reach fruition in a very timely manner.”

Despite its new office’s slightly smaller size, 1001 N. Fairfax St. is a more modern building with a more efficient design, WLS points out. “A key factor is that our client now occupies office space on one floor, which allows for improved collaboration among employees,” Genova said.

“SAF is now well positioned with its new office space to meet the needs of the organization for the next decade and beyond,” Moran added.

The Society of American Florists has sold their building, located at 1601 Duke St. (See Google map below for location):

Society of American Florists' new address: