The Capital Plaza office tower in Washington, D.C., was sold for $149.5 million to Principal Real Estate Investors LLC, Bloomberg reported, and the transaction reflects rising commercial real estate values in the nation’s capital.

Vacant in 2007 when Area Property Partners LP and Van Ness Property Group acquired the 291,838-square-foot building, it is now 98 percent leased. Rising from recession lows, office building prices gained 6.1 percent in May from a year earlier, according to Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index.

“This is one of the pre-eminent office properties in a growing submarket with limited class A office product,” said Jim Halliwell, managing director at Principal Real Estate Investors, which manages or subadvises $37.3 billion in commercial real estate assets.

Area Property Partners said in a statement that it has invested in more than 500 transactions valued at more than $60 billion. Cassidy Turley represented Area Property Partners and Van Ness Property Group in the sale.

The CoStar Group Inc. said commercial real estate values in Washington gained the most among six major U.S. markets last year.