Blake Real Estate, Inc.

What Blake Real Estate, Inc. does

Blake Real Estate, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned commercial real estate developer, owner, and manager headquartered at 1150 Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington, DC. Founded in 1947 by Jack I. Bender as Blake Construction Co., the company transitioned in the mid-1990s from a national general contractor to a focused owner-operator of a nine-building trophy and Class A office portfolio concentrated in Washington's most prestigious corridors (K Street, Connecticut Avenue, the Golden Triangle, and the East End). Blake operates three integrated service lines: commercial leasing delivered through a dedicated in-house leasing team (led by Vice President Mike Gordon), property management with fully dedicated onsite staff at each property (led by Vice President Mark Benedetti), and development/project management services for both the owned portfolio and third-party institutional clients (led by Executive Vice President Don Silverstein).

The company serves a high-prestige tenant base anchored by U.S. federal agencies (Department of Justice, U.S. Secret Service), multilateral institutions (International Finance Corporation, World Bank, International Monetary Fund), and regulatory bodies (FDIC), alongside nonprofits, professional services firms, and charter schools. Notable development credentials include the $95 million, 155,000 SF LEED Platinum headquarters delivered for the IFC at 2100 K Street NW in 2019, and a portfolio track record that includes the FBI Building, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Revenue is generated through three streams: recurring commercial leasing income (subscription/recurring economics on owned assets), recurring property management fees on both owned and third-party assets (over 60 years of management experience), and project-based development and construction management fees for third-party institutional clients. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with large-ticket institutional commercial real estate transactions. The Prism Tenant Portal, powered by Building Engines, provides digital tenant services but is a third-party SaaS integration rather than proprietary technology.

Blake is led by third-generation Bender family member David Bender (Chairman), with Owen Billman serving as President and overseeing day-to-day operations. The company employs between 251 and 500 people and maintains no external institutional shareholders, having remained continuously family-controlled across nearly eight decades. Recent strategic activity has focused on ESG-aligned portfolio repositioning (LEED Gold, LEED Platinum, WiredScore Platinum, FITWEL, and Energy Star certifications achieved across multiple buildings in 2019-2023) and selective third-party development mandates spanning education, healthcare, cultural, and nonprofit sectors, rather than geographic or vertical expansion.

Name

Blake Real Estate, Inc.

Legal name

Blake Real Estate, Inc.

Website

https://blakereal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Blake Real Estate, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned Washington DC commercial real estate firm founded in 1947 that owns and manages nine trophy and Class A office buildings and provides integrated leasing, property management, and development services to government agencies, multilateral institutions, and institutional third-party clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate

NAICS

Real Estate Property Managers (53131), Rental and Leasing Services (532), Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121)

SIC

Operators Of Nonresidential Buildings (6512), Lessors Of Real Property, Nec (6519), Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Office Property Management (BPAJAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Office Real Estate Asset Management (BPAJAMAG), Tenant Representation & Corporate Services Brokerage (BPAJABAJ)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate
• Property management
• Office leasing
• Real estate development
• Project management

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commercial Property Leasing: Blake Real Estate generates revenue through leasing commercial office space in their owned portfolio of nine buildings in the Washington DC region. The company uses their integrated resources to provide comprehensive leasing solutions tailored to meet an owner's goals or a tenant's needs.
2. Property Management Services: Revenue generated from managing commercial real estate for more than 60 years. The company manages their own portfolio as well as third-party clients and projects. Nearly every Blake property has a fully dedicated and onsite staff of professionals including property managers, engineers, and maintenance technicians.
3. Development & Project Management: Blake offers a long, stable track record of successful development projects in the DC metro area. Their approach blends construction and development, leasing, and property management disciplines. They lead projects from site selection through completion, serving both their own portfolio and third-party clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blake Real Estate is a developer, owner, and manager of commercial office properties in the Washington, DC region. The company leases and manages a portfolio of 9 owned Class A office buildings and provides third-party leasing, property management, and development/project management services with dedicated onsite staff.

Product overview

Blake Real Estate operates as a single unified real estate services platform offering three integrated core services: leasing (with an award-winning team), property management (with dedicated onsite staff), and development & construction management. The company maintains a portfolio of 9 owned and managed commercial office buildings in Washington, DC, and offers a Prism Tenant Portal powered by Building Engines for tenant services. The portfolio includes LEED-certified and WiredScore-rated properties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Organization of American States renovation completed $3.5 million under budget (280,000 SF, $32 million project)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• American Heart Association (AHA)minorOthersBlake Real Estate has maintained a special bond with the American Heart Association since 1966, following the passing of their patriarch Jack I. Bender due to heart disease. Blake and the Bender family have raised and donated millions of dollars to AHA. From 1981 to 1989, Blake sponsored the 'Annual Blake Heart Run for Life.' Since then, they have been continuously one of the top annual fundraisers for the AHA's Greater Washington Region Heart Walk on the National Mall.
• Girl ScoutsminorOthersA Blake tradition since 1997, every year the company purchases thousands of boxes of Girl Scout cookies to give away free to their tenants. Over the years, Blake has supported local Girl Scout troops with nearly 60,000 boxes of cookies.
• Apartment and Office Building Association (AOBA)minorOthersEvery year, Blake employees join AOBA's Community Service Committee in support of Washington area schools and nonprofits, participating in events like Cleanup and Challenge Days at the James E. Duckworth School, Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, and the AOBA Sleep Out for youth experiencing homelessness.
• Covenant HouseminorOthersBlake participates in the AOBA Sleep Out event which raises critical funds to help Covenant House provide 24/7 shelter, sanctuary, and support to youth experiencing homelessness in the DMV region.
• James E. Duckworth SchoolminorOthersBlake employees volunteer at Cleanup and Challenge Days at this Prince George's County school for children with disabilities. At Clean-Up Day, volunteers clean, landscape, and enhance the school's grounds and interior spaces. At Challenge Day, volunteers cheer on students as they participate in Special Olympics activities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Akridge: DC-based full-service commercial real estate firm owning, developing, and managing office and mixed-use properties in the Washington metro. Directly comparable to Blake on geography and integrated services platform.
• Carr Properties: Washington DC-focused commercial real estate owner, operator, and developer of Class A office properties. Closest comparable to Blake in geography, asset class (DC trophy office), and integrated platform model.
• JBG Smith: DC-metro focused REIT that owns, operates, and develops a portfolio of office, multifamily, and mixed-use properties. Comparable to Blake through its DC office portfolio and integrated asset management approach.

Broad incumbents

• Boston Properties (BXP): Large publicly-traded office REIT with a major DC presence (including trophy assets along the K Street corridor). Comparable as a Class A DC office owner/operator but operates at national scale across multiple markets.
• Vornado Realty Trust: Public REIT that owns a significant DC office portfolio alongside its dominant NYC assets. Comparable as a major trophy-office landlord in DC but at much larger and more diversified scale than Blake.
• Tishman Speyer: Global commercial real estate owner, developer, and operator with trophy office assets in Washington DC. Comparable as a large-scale DC office owner but operates across many global markets.
• Brookfield Properties: Major global office landlord with significant DC holdings. Comparable through trophy DC office ownership and integrated development/management platform, but at vastly larger scale and capital base.
• Shorenstein Realty Services: National owner and operator of Class A office properties with selective DC exposure. Comparable through trophy office ownership and integrated property management platform, though much larger and more geographically diversified.

Regional players

• Douglas Development: Privately-held DC-focused real estate developer and investor with a large downtown portfolio. Comparable through DC concentration and long-standing local ownership, but more development-heavy and less office-trophy focused than Blake.

Others

• CBRE: Global commercial real estate services firm providing leasing, property management, and project management in DC. Comparable through overlapping service lines (leasing, PM, project management) but CBRE does not own the underlying assets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blake-real-estate-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blake Real Estate, Inc.