Action at Port Covington

Finmarc has sold the 59-acre Port Covington Shopping Center on the Southern Peninsula for $35M. Even the seller doesn’t know the identity of the buyer (whenever that happens we imagine the buyer is billionaire Bruce Wayne or the Count of Monte Cristo), but Finmarc’s history with the site lends some insight into its future.

Finmarc’s David Fink (left, snapped this morning with partner Marc Solomon in their Bethesda office) tells us Starwood Ceruzzi developed a 130k SF Sam’s Club and 142k SF Walmart in ’02 and sold the acreage and stores to Finmarc in '05. Sam’s closed in ’08, and Walmart is still operating. Despite Finmarc's retail focus, it started to see mixed-use potential and imagined town homes, multifamily, office, and retail there. But demand never was consistent enough for the developer to pull the trigger. Many offers have come along over the years, but Finmarc was in a position to hold. This latest offer, though, was good for both parties, David says. He describes the buyer as having a longer horizon than Finmarc.

Here’s the the site's waterfront. Though residential demand is hotter than it's been since Finmarc bought Port Covington, the company has since decided to diversify beyond retail. If fully developed, Port Covington would have been its largest property by far. Over the past 18 months, Finmarc has acquired or sold $279M worth of assets and are seeking more investment ops in the Mid-Atlantic.