private industry real estate development predecessor mbg associates founded 1957 headquarters 4445 willard avenue suite 400 chevy chase maryland united states area served washington d.c. metropolitan area key people michael j. glosserman managing partner and chair executive committee 1 products office buildings apartment buildings hotels total assets 10 billion 2011 1 number of employees 500 2012 2 website jbg.com the jbg companies also known as the jbg cos. is a privately owned real estate investment and management firm based in chevy chase maryland in the united states . founded as a law firm in 1957 the company became known as mbg associates and moved into loan syndication in 1958 . in 1960 the firm ceased the practice of law and incorporated as a real estate development company . with the departure and addition of a founding partner in 1969 the firm became known as jbg associates . it changed its named to the jbg companies in 1985 . the firm engages in development and redevelopment of properties primarily inside the beltway in the washington d.c. metropolitan area . contents 1 corporate history 1.1 founding and early years 1.2 growth and first portfolio sale 1.3 creation of investment funds and second portfolio sale 2 the woodley 2.1 lawsuit with marriott 2.2 sale of the woodley 3 operations 3.1 green buildings 3.2 performance 4 references corporate history edit founding and early years edit in 1957 three attorneys gerald j. miller donald a. brown and joseph gildenhorn formed a law practice in rockville maryland . the following year they entered the loan syndication business helping to secure private loans from wealthy investors to finance building projects brought to them by real estate developers . 3 by 1962 the company had more than 50 million in real estate under its control . among the projects it completed in the district of columbia were a 4 million office building at 2121 pennsylvania avenue nw the 2.7 million jefferson building at 19th street nw and jefferson place nw an 8.5 million office building at 19th and m streets nw and a 12 million large apartment complex at tunlaw road nw and watson place nw . none of them had a rate of return of less than 13 percent . 3 that year the company formed its own real estate development arm mbg associates . 4 benjamin a. jacobs a 23 year old law student who expressed deep interest in the law firm s real estate practice joined the real estate division . 1 miller left the company in 1969 and jacobs was made a partner in the firm . mbg associates changed its name to jbg associates and formed two subsidiaries jbg properties inc. and jbg construction co. 4 growth and first portfolio sale edit in the 1970s the firm hired a number of individuals who are now top managers at the company including robert h. braunohler michael j. glosserman and lewis rumford . 2 managers brian p. coulter and robert a. stewart joined the company in the 1980s . 1 in the late 1980s the jbg cos. was among the first real estate development firms in the d.c. area to redevelop properties for third party clients for a set fee . this then innovative strategy helped the company survive the early 1990s recession . 5 the jbg cos. aggressively acquired a wide range of properties after the early 1990s recession . with 26 buildings in its portfolio in the early 1990s gilderhorn brown and jacobs considered taking the company public but did not do so . 1 by 1997 the jbg cos. had an ownership interest in 21 commercial properties . most were office buildings but two were hotels and one was a shopping center . 5 they sold nearly the entire 580 million portfolio to trizechahn corp. in 1997 . the deal did not include 10 apartment projects owned by the jbg cos. 5 the sale helped raise capital for the firm . but with a smaller portfolio the jbg cos. also shed most of its staff and only 15 people remained with the firm at the end of the year . 2 in 2012 the washington business journal named the transaction one of the 30 most significant local business stories of the past 30 years . 6 creation of investment funds and second portfolio sale edit after the divestment brown and gildenhorn retired from daily management of the jbg cos. with glosserman as the firm s new managing partner 1 the company decided on a new investment strategy in 1999 . 2 instead of putting together syndicates for specific projects the company sought out individual and later institutional investors . this gave the firm access to funds it could use at is discretion . its first institutional investor was the yale endowment . the first investment fund closed in 2002 1 and by fall 2012 the jbg cos. had established eight investment funds and raised 5.5 billion . 2 several of the funds were specifically created just for the yale endowment and yale remains the company s most important institutional investor . 2 the company told the washington post that the gross annual rate of return for investors since 1999 was about 30 percent . new partners were added as well including porter dawson kenneth f. finkelstein james l. iker and w. matt kelly . 1 jbg sold an 82 percent stake in its portfolio in august 2007 to macfarlane partners for 2 billion and another 9 percent from morgan stanley for an undisclosed sum . 1 as of 2011 the jbg cos. had 10 billion in assets . that year jacobs retired as managing member . 1 the firm had 15 owners by 2012 and more than 500 employees . 2 in november 2013 the washington d.c. economic partnership a nonprofit dedicated to promoting business opportunities and facilitating economic development in the district of columbia issued its 2013 2014 development report . the report ranked the jbg cos. as the most active private developer in the district of columbia for 2013 with 23 completed projects 10 projects in development and eight projects under construction . the jbg cos. far outran its nearest competitors wc smith 30 projects jair lynch development partners 30 projects douglas development corp. 27 projects and pn hoffman 18 projects . 7 8 the washington business journal noted that many of the firm s projects are along the rapidly developing 14th street nw and u street nw commercial corridors . 7 on december 18 2013 the jbg cos. announces it intended to build a 140.5 feet 42.8 m high glass and steel mixed use building with a modernist steel armature as an adornment at 1920 n street nw . the company purchased both 1920 n street nw 1924 n street nw and 1233 20th street nw for 113 million in 2012 . company officials said they wanted to tear down the existing structures at 1920 and 1924 n street nw and would combine the new structure with the old one at 1233 20th street . 9 the company sold two buildings in rockville maryland to another developer for 48.6 million in january 2014 . 10 in 2014 the jbg cos. partnered with mrp realty to redevelop 965 florida aveue nw . the firm had bid on a chance to develop the city owned parcel but lost out to mrp realty in july 2013 . 11 citizens in the area decried the selection and d.c. city council member jim graham threatened to oppose the deal in august . 12 but in february 2014 the jbg cos. and mrp realty announced a joint venture to redevelop the site . it was not clear how mrp s plan to build low income housing and ground floor retail would mesh with jbg s plan to build upper and middle income condos a hotel office space and a harris teeter grocery store on the site . 13 the jbg cos. opened a new real estate fund jbg fund ix on march 17 and by april 25 had raised 6.5 million . the washington business journal speculated that the new fund would exceed the record 753 million raised by the company for its last investment fund between 2011 and 2013 . 14 the company raised 680 million 80 million more than its target by september 2014 . 15 in late april 2014 the jbg cos. broke ground on the first of two 355 foot 108 m high 31 story towers in rosslyn virginia . the tower will contain 377 condominiums and apartments 25 000 square feet 2 300 m2 of ground level retail space and a six level underground parking garage is next to a public plaza and the rosslyn metro station . the second tower expected to break ground in 2016 will contain office space . the project known as central place was co financed by the state teachers retirement system of ohio and is the centerpiece of the realize rosslyn project approved by the arlington county board and backed by representative jim moran designed to transform rossyln from an office park into a mix used area with residential and retail as well . 16 a major jbg cos. project on u street nw began construction in may 2014 . the company razed five buildings making up half of 1300 u street nw to begin construction on an eight story 165 unit mixed use development with street level retail . the development included a very expensive community benefits package . the jbg cos. will donate 150 000 to improve harrison recreation center another 150 000 to improve the athletic field at garrison elementary school 150 000 to establish a u street business improvement district 15 000 for a styrene butadiene rubber playground surface at westminster playground and 10 000 for the creation and installation of a memorial plaque at metropolitan baptist church to commemorate camp barker a union army camp for contrabad runaway slaves established nearby during the american civil war . additionally the jbg cos. will contribute to a fund operated by the district of columbia department of transportation ddot to improve transportation options in the area . jbg cos. will donate 55 000 to install a capital bikeshare station at garrison elementary school 30 000 to build 60 bicycle parking racks racks on nearby 30 000 to for 20 new street lights in the area and 10 000 to restore and improve pedestrian crossing markings in the area . 17 in october 2014 the gallaudet university board of trustees announced a 10 year 450 million redevelopment of its campus along 6th street ne . the development which includes both campus property as well as college owned residential and retail property across the street will be overseen by the jbg cos. 18 the woodley edit jbg cos. allegedly sued to stop the washington marriott marquis project in order to obtain favorable action by marriott on condo conversions at the marriott wardman park pictured . the jbg cos. and another firm cim group purchased a hotel the marriott wardman park from thayer lodging group in july 2005 for 300 million . the jbg cos. planned to convert the 199 hotel rooms located in the park tower portion of the hotel into luxury condominiums . the jbg cos. also said it will demolish the hotel s parking garage and main ballroom and spend 50 million to renovate the guest rooms add dining space build a new fitness center and improve the exhibition and meeting space . 19 the deal included a clause that allowed marriott which continued to manage the hotel to veto the conversion of hotel rooms into condos if revenues on the remaining hotel section fell below a specified number . 20 the jbg cos. later disclosed that it would consturct a 200 unit condminium unit on a 16 acres 65 000 m2 lot adjacent to the hotel . 21 hotel revenues declined significantly during the great recession and marriott exercised its right