Lerner Buys Development Site Near Ballpark From GSA For $31M
The General Services Administration has sold a 0.68-acre development site near Nationals Park.
Lerner Enterprises, through the subsidiary Half Street Partners LLC, acquired the site at 49 L St. SE for $31M in a deal published Monday with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds.
The site, at the corner of Half and L streets SE, is occupied by a one-story warehouse, but the lot's zoning would allow for a development of up to 13 stories and roughly 275K SF.
The GSA put the site up for auction Oct. 1. Multiple proposed uses for the site have failed in the past, including a market pushed by a group of residents and a homeless shelter considered by the D.C. government.
The Rockville-based family development company, also the majority owner of the Nationals, is increasing its real estate holdings in the neighborhood the team calls home. Lerner's Capitol Riverfront portfolio also includes the 10-story office building at 20 M St. SE and a site at 1000 South Capitol St. SE, where it is planning a 300-plus-unit apartment building.
Just two blocks north of Nationals Park, the site is surrounded by mixed-use developments at various stages. To the south, Jair Lynch and JBG Smith are building mixed-use projects on opposite sides of Half Street that will create a new retail corridor leading to the ballpark. To the north, the first phase of Ruben Cos. and Related Cos.' ultra-luxury One Hill South Project delivered last year, and the second phase is in planning. Toll Brothers and MRP Realty also have mixed-use projects in the works nearby.
