MBA Puts Headquarters Up for Sale

The Mortgage Bankers Association, which lost money in its last fiscal year, has decided to put its Washington headquarters up for sale, 14 months after occupying the $100 million building. The property, which has proven to be a white elephant for the financially strapped trade group almost from the instant it was purchased in May 2008, is listed with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a national commercial brokerage firm. No asking price was mentioned in a letter this morning to the MBA membership. According to the letter, the decision to unload the structure at 1331 L Street was deemed by the MBA board to be "in the best interest" of the association, which will continue to lease "a substantial portion" of space as its HQ through 2020. According to the letter, the decision to buy the building in the first place was made by three different member-led task forces. But the letter did not say what many observers believe: that the decision cost former President Jonathan Kempner his job after a decade as the MBA's chief operating officer. That the MBA has been unable to lease much space to other tenants in what was described as "one of the most severe recessions in a century" was sited as a major reason for the sale. "The board concluded that continued ownership...was economically imprudent and over the long term would impair MBA's ability to continue to provide our members with MBA's full range of services," the letter said.