The AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT) and its joint venture partner recently closed on the sale of a downtown Washington, DC, office property known as the Executive Building, resulting in a Trust holding period internal rate of return of 18.2%. The Executive Building was originally placed under contract in July 2007 and represented the BIT's largest single investment. "The sale enabled the BIT to lock in a return on the property," said Rinse Brink of PNC Realty Investors, Inc., investment advisor to the BIT. "We believe the disposition was well timed. The sale also significantly reduces the BIT's office leasing exposure." The BIT acquired the Executive Building in 2002 and undertook an extensive renovation and expansion of the property to create a 325,000-square-foot Class A office building. The BIT's investment of $103.5 million helped generate an estimated 550 union construction jobs. As part of its portfolio management strategy, the BIT also sold City Commerce, an industrial property in Seattle, Washington, during the first quarter of 2008. The sale resulted in a holding period internal rate of return of 17.7%.