From The River To D.C.: How Arab Countries Bought Up Washington’s Most Elite Neighborhood

As we prepare to enter the new year, we’re taking you back to some of The Daily Wire’s best reporting from 2024. This article was originally published on July 18. 

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—Arab Gulf states have quietly and sometimes secretly purchased at least $282 million worth of real estate in Washington’s most elite neighborhood.

Situated high atop the banks of the Potomac River and overlooking the nation’s capital, Virginia’s “Gold Coast” has long been the home of America’s ruling class. Today, it’s home to a number of high-profile Washingtonians, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose home on Arlington’s tony Chain Bridge Road has been swarmed by an encampment of anti-Israel protesters since Hamas’s October 7th invasion of Israel.

But since 2019, a mysterious entity called 600 CBR LLC has been buying up property in the area, building up a compound that sold for three times as much as Jeff Bezos’ $23 million D.C. mansion. Though the buyers behind 600 CBR are unknown, the real estate blog UrbanTurf reported in 2022 that “the buyer is from the United Arab Emirates and that settlement documents confirm this.”

The embassy of the United Arab Emirates owns extensive property just down the block from the 600 CBR compound, and the compound’s primary residence is directly across the street from Blinken’s $5 million home. Since October 7th, anti-Israel protesters have been living in the narrow strip between the road and the LLC’s property, with their tents, signs, and buckets of fake blood just inches from its fence.

If the UAE is behind 600 CBR, it’s not the only Gulf State with real estate holdings in the neighborhood. Saudi Arabia owns a compound on one side of the 600 compound, and Qatar owns land on the other.

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It is unclear whether the various Arab nations who own the properties are involved in the protests outside Blinken’s home, which The Daily Wire reported likely violate several state and local laws. The UAE embassy did not answer questions from The Daily Wire about whether UAE royals are behind the purchase, nor their stance on the protest outside Blinken’s home.

This map shows the site of the Potomac River’s “Gold Coast,” with foreign-owned properties highlighted at left, in relation to DC, at right. / Daily Wire

The Gulf states are the latest foreign entities to buy up key real estate in the United States. In June, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that China was purchasing farm land near U.S. military bases to serve as launch pads for drones. Beijing has a history of acquiring American land, with one Chinese Communist Party billionaire secretly purchasing 200,000 acres of Oregon farm land in 2015.

Qatar’s efforts to expand its influence in the United States were on full display this week after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was convicted of working to benefit Qatar while securing millions of dollars from a Qatari investment fund for his friend, who in turn paid him.

When a Daily Wire reporter attempted to knock on the door of the 600 CBR compound’s main building, he was intercepted by a Middle Eastern man in sunglasses who said in accented speech, “This is private villa…get out…please don’t ask questions.” Asked who owns the villa, he said “that is private, I cannot talk.” Shortly after, someone left the house driven in a black SUV.

Mortgage documents generally point to a property buyer’s identity. But 600 CBR’s purchase seems to have been made in cash, keeping all identifying information about the buyer out of public records. A transaction for just one of its parcels set the record for the largest residential transaction in the D.C. region’s history.

The articles of incorporation for 600 CBR LLC were signed in 2019 by Kathryn W. Hambrick, a lawyer who specializes in managing sovereign wealth funds, according to a Daily Wire review of state records. Hambrick did not return a request for comment on which country’s sovereign wealth fund may have been behind the purchase.

Whoever funds 600 CBR has plenty of company.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Embassy owns a $130 million compound that includes the historic Merrywood estate, the childhood home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Merrywood was later purchased by AOL CEO Steve Case, and sold to the Saudis in 2018 for $43 million, the highest-ever home sale in the region at the time. It is next door to the home where Sen. Ted Kennedy lived until his death.

The Saudi properties’ combined assessed value is $130 million, according to Fairfax County real estate records. The ownership of some of the most expensive property in Fairfax County by embassies—even though the embassies themselves are in Washington—deals a blow to the tax base, as they are exempt from property taxes.

The Embassy of the State of Qatar’s nearby compound is assessed to be worth $20 million. The oil-rich nation has just 300,000 citizens—half the size of the District of Columbia—but recently counted 2 million residents. The vast majority of its residents are foreign laborers working in conditions sometimes described as “modern slavery.”

Qatar has been in the international spotlight since Hamas’s invasion of Israel. The terrorist group’s leaders operate out of Qatar, and the nation’s representative to the Arab parliament said “There can be no peace or negotiations with the Zionist entity.” Qatar has also enmeshed itself into D.C.’s culture by becoming part-owner of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards.

The $62 million worth of properties owned by the United Arab Emirates, mostly purchased in 2022, are also exempt from property taxes. If the UAE is indeed behind the 600 CBR compound, it would bring the UAE-connected holdings to an assessed value of $132 million.

One of the properties on the 600 CBR compound is “The Falls,” which was purchased for about $45 million in 2020 from AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey, making for the largest purchase in the region’s history, the Washington Business Journal reported at the time. It features 42,000 square feet of living space and a guest house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

It also includes a property, purchased for $23 million in 2022, that was home to former Virginia Gov. Chuck Robb and his wife, the daughter of former president Lyndon B. Johnson.

Standing yards from this enclave of the Gulf nations’ mega-mansions, pro-Palestinian protestors scream day and night at the United States’ top diplomat that the children of Gaza are starving.