Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties is a Washington, D.C. real estate investment trust that acquires, develops and manages buildings leased to U.S. government agencies. Listed publicly in 2015, the company focuses on mission-critical facilities for agencies including the FBI, VA, DEA and the federal judiciary, holding them under long-term GSA leases. Its build-to-suit model has become a common path for federal courthouses and agency facilities when direct appropriations are unavailable: Easterly finances and develops the building, then leases it back to the government. The firm is developing the new U.S. Federal Courthouse in Flagstaff, Arizona, a $70 million, 50,777-square-foot facility on Route 66 that ends a two-to-five hour drive to Phoenix for northern Arizona court proceedings.

Easterly did not begin life as a public company. Darrell Crate co-founded it in 2009 as a private equity fund, raised successor funds, added a development vertical and completed a formation transaction before the 2015 listing. He is now chief executive officer and president.

The portfolio has since grown to 10.2 million leased square feet across 102 operating properties in 27 states, with three more buildings in design or under development. Two offices carry that workload: headquarters at 2001 K Street NW in Washington, and a West Coast office on Executive Drive in San Diego.

Sourcing runs off a proprietary database. Easterly tracks roughly 8,500 leases covering about 200 million rentable square feet, which the company describes as substantially every major U.S. Government-leased property meeting its investment criteria, along with ownership information for those buildings. Targets get picked by first identifying agencies with the most enduring missions, then narrowing to the buildings that sit highest in each agency’s hierarchy.

The development bench predates the REIT itself. Michael Ibe, executive vice president of development and vice chairman of the board, co-founded Western Devcon in 1987 and spent years delivering GSA build-to-suit properties there. Mark Bauer, also an EVP of development, was Western Devcon’s chief financial officer, and Arthur Robertson came out of the same firm as its vice president of development.

Government relations is staffed from the other side of the table. Stuart Burns joined in February 2023 after serving as Assistant Commissioner for Portfolio Management and Customer Engagement at GSA’s Public Buildings Service, a role covering more than 370 million square feet and over 8,700 owned and leased assets. Nick Nimerala, who leads portfolio and asset management, previously served as regional manager for the National Capital Region on the GSA National Broker Contract at JLL and began his career inside GSA headquarters.

The growth plan is stated without decoration: pursue attractive acquisitions, develop built-to-suit properties for the U.S. Government, and renew existing leases at positive spreads. Inquiries run through the Washington office on (202) 595-9500 or info@easterlyreit.com.