WEST, LANE & SCHLAGER REALTY ADVISORS NEGOTIATES A 237,848-SQUARE-FOOT LEASE IN D.C. FOR THE STATE SERVICES ORGANIZATION

April 23, 2012 (Washington,D.C.) – West, Lane & Schlager Realty Advisors, LLC (“WLS”) has negotiated the largest private-sector lease transaction in Washington, D.C. this year.

WLS, a D.C.-based commercial real estate brokerage firm that exclusively represents tenants,announced today that it has negotiated on behalf of the State Services Organization, Inc. (“SSO”) a 237,848-square-foot,15-year lease at 400-444 N. Capitol St. NW, also known as the Hall of the States Building.

Mindy Saffer, LEED AP, Richard Lane, Eric West, LEED AP, and Richard Siegel – all WLS principals – represented SSO, which is a 36-year non-profit corporation founded by the Council of State Governments, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governors Association.

SSO manages the office space that comprises the Hall of the States, offering a range of services to its 92 subtenants, which include the Washington offices of U.S. states, U.S.territories, and associations of state officials. The signing of this new lease will further advance SSO’s mission to provide cost-effective leasing and operational alternatives to its members.

“Timing was of the essence in this particular deal, and we’re delighted with the outcome,” Saffer says. “When SSO hired us in the fall of 2009, our direction was clear: ‘Save us money now, not in early 2014 when our lease expires.’ We immediately went to work to analyze SSO’s real estate needs and evaluated all viable alternatives. Ultimately, we were able to restructure its current and projected occupancies and expenses such that we reduced costs immediately and,more importantly, positioned SSO well over the long term.”

Says Steve Roberts, the SSO’s executive director: “We’re focused on creating synergies for our tenants using economies of scale to provide the best value for them, and I’m quite pleased with the end result of this new lease.”

SSO and its members preferred to remain on Capitol Hill, but options in that submarket were limited. WLS led its client on an extensive building search throughout Capitol Hill as well as several other D.C. neighborhoods, including the Capitol Riverfront and NoMA.

After weighing the various lease and purchase opportunities, SSO ultimately decided to stay at its existing location. Taking advantage of today’s market conditions, the early lease restructuring by WLS proved to meet SSO’s project goal of reducing aggregate real estate costs prior to 2014 and for the next 15 years.

Mebar Realty Holding Trust owns the 550,000-square-foot property at 400-444 N. Capitol St. NW, which is a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and Union Station. Besides SSO, these two interconnected buildings feature tenants like C-SPAN, CNBC and Fox News Corporation.

About West, Lane & Schlager Realty Advisors, LLC:
Washington, D.C.-based West, Lane & Schlager Realty Advisors, LLC (“WLS”)is a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm that exclusively represents tenants in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Clients of WLS include professional services companies such as law firms, as well as nonprofit organizations and trade associations. Services provided by WLS are tenant representation, investments, construction management, strategic planning, and operating-expense reviews. For more information on WLS, please visit www.wlsrealty.com.

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