South Korean investor buys NASA HQ in D.C.

An investment group led by Ocean West Capital Partners and Hana Asset Management Co. Ltd. has purchased Two Independence Square in Washington, D.C., for an estimated price of $360 million.

The seller is Piedmont Office Realty Trust, which acquired the property in November 2002 from Boston Properties.

Two Independence Square is a nine-story, 606,000-square-foot office property, located at 300 E St. S.W. It is fully leased to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and has been since 1991. NASA renewed its lease in 2011, with a term running through 2028. It occupies 99 percent of the building. James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium, a lending library, history office and archives, is also a tenant, along with NASA TV production facilities.

Ocean West, a Los Angeles–based real estate investment and management firm, advised the South Korean buying group and will serve as the U.S. asset manager and property manager for Two Independence Square.