Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRE) has entered into contracts to sell its whole industrial portfolio as well as two office buildings for $350 million, as the company looks to relocate its holdings as part of a tactical plan announced earlier this year.

Shares were downward 3.8% to $27 in premarket trading.

President and Chief Executive George F. "Skip" McKenzie

 
President and Chief Executive George F. “Skip” McKenzie said the move would let the real-estate investment trust to focus its concentration to acquiring properties inside the Beltway, near major transportation points and in areas with strong employment and growth demographics.

The portfolio consists of 16 industrial assets along with the Crescent and Albemarle office buildings. The contracts consist of five separate purchase and sale agreements.

Three of the contracts are estimated to close Sept. 1, with two other contracts projected to close in October and November. The escrow deposits under the contracts total $20 million.

The REIT, which owns and manages office buildings, shopping centers and industrial parks in the mid-Atlantic part, had been struggling with debt due this year. In September, the company declared tender offers for $275.5 million, funding it through the sale of $250 million of fresh debt.

Last month, the company reported its second-quarter earnings cut down 57% on higher operating cost and lower occupancy levels.