Tuesday, 6/15/10 By Sarah Krouse

Washington Business Journal

CW Financial Services Combines Offices

CW Financial Services is consolidating its Rockville and D.C. offices, taking 47,000 square feet in 7501 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda.

The commercial real estate finance company will move about 150 employees to the fifth floor of the Bethesda office building in November.

The 695,000-square-foot B.F Saul Co.-owned building gained another tenant in recent weeks when the federal government signed a five-year, 70,000-square-foot lease for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The leases follow a huge loss for the building in the form of major longtime tenant Chevy Chase bank, which was bought by Capital One Financial Corp. in February 2009, and is slowly vacating the 350,000 square feet.

CW Financial currently has offices at 11200 Rockville Pike and 701 13th St. NW.

"Obviously Bethesda is in the middle," spokeswoman Elizabeth Orcutt said of the new location. "This is just a consolidation. We are not losing staff. That particular office is our asset management platform and they are growing, if anything."

In recent months, a number of real estate financial giants have entered into a bidding war over the company. A final buyer has not yet been announced, but Orcutt said the move had nothing to do with the potential acquisition of the company.

Taylor Hillenmeyer of ProVenture and Mike Gordon of Stout and Teague represented CW Financial in the transaction.