Photo by Wes Stone

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is making some real estate news today. The outré theater announced it purchased the 30,000-square-foot building it occupies at 641 D Street NW in the heart of Penn Quarter.

Documents filed with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds show that the transaction between Woolly Mammoth and JPI Apartment Development LP was completed on May 2, though the sale price is being kept secret. Anneliese DeDiemar, a spokeswoman for the theater, says the terms of the deal are being kept private at the seller’s request.

Woolly moved into the building in 2005, seven years after it first partnered with JPI to build out the the block bounded by D, Seventh, E, and Sixth streets NW. Today, the block includes more than 400 residential units managed by JPI, and retail including restaurants such as José Andrés’ Oyamel.

According to a Woolly Mammoth press release, the theater company operated in its space under a lease agreement that charged it $1 per year through 2031, after it raised $9 million in a capital campaign to build out the partially subterranean theater. But Woolly Mammoth long eyed purchasing the space outright.

JPI initiated the sale last June, Woolly Mammoth says. And while the price is a secret, D.C. Recorder of Deeds documents list the transaction at $10 and other valuable consideration.” That consideration must be quite valuable. Jeffrey Herrmann, Woolly Mammoth’s managing director, tells The Washington Post that the sale was done at an “insanely generous price.”

Woolly Mammoth’s building and the lot it sits on are assessed at $5,340,670, according to D.C. tax records. (The theater company itself is a nonprofit entity.) The Woolly Mammoth press release announcing the sale says it received “highly-favorable financing” and is seeking municipal and foundational support to pay for the balance.