Metlife close to buying Constitution Center in Washington: WSJ

MetLife Inc is close to an agreement to buy the 1.4 million-square-foot Constitution Center in Washington, D.C., for $750 million, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the transaction.

The paper said the 10-story office building, owned by David Nassif Associates, was put on the market in the spring of 2011 and some brokers had expected it to fetch $900 million.

But the market outlook weakened since then, the Journal reported, as the likelihood of further cuts in federal spending increased. http://link.reuters.com/kuc83t

The building is currently about 30 percent occupied, the business daily reported, and is expected to be about 75 percent occupied by early next year.

Officials at MetLife were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting By Vrinda Manocha in Bangalore; Editing by Ken Wills)