This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
The former president of Avison Young’s capital markets team is striking out on his own.
John Kevill has launched boutique transaction and advisory firm Solitude Cove Capital, he announced Wednesday. The new firm has already begun providing services to clients in investment sales and capital markets consulting.
“The recent rise in interest rates has been a tipping point for many owners and the cause of much uncertainty, but it has also shown the need for an experienced, nimble firm that can react quickly and provide cutting-edge solutions,” Kevill said in a statement.
Kevill was hired to head up Avison Young's national investment sales unit in May 2016 and worked at the Canadian firm until October 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. He officially launched the new firm a year later.
Prior to Avison Young, Kevill was a managing director at Eastdil Secured for more than four years and spent 17 years at JLL.
SALES
Elm Gardens Apartments, a 36-unit property adjacent to the Takoma Metro station, sold for $7.5M to an entity called Elm Gardens Owner LLC, which is registered to the same address as the New York headquarters of affordable housing developer the NHP Foundation.
The property was sold by Winters Run LP, whose general partner, Russell Katz, owns boutique development firm MOMI. The property was originally built in 1966, and a predecessor firm owned by Katz completed renovations around 2000, per MOMI's website.
***
Pembroke sold an 11-story McPherson Square office building to Altus Realty for $16M, Bisnow reported. The buyer has already secured a $12.85 loan from ACRES Capital to prepare for an office-to-residential conversion. The new owner of 1010 Vermont Ave. NW envisions 89 apartments in the 1920s-era office building.
***
Madison Marquette affiliate Lemonade acquired a 144-building portfolio of vacant bank properties from Truist for an undisclosed sum. The portfolio includes 29 properties in Maryland and Virginia, plus scores of others in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. Madison Marquette principal Josh Anderson said Lemonade planned to rehab the vacant properties and return them as "useful assets for dozens of communities." The properties varied greatly in value, from $990K in Columbia, Maryland, to $10K in Baltimore County, per research conducted by Bisnow.
FINANCING
Redbrick has secured a $142.5M construction loan for the first phase of the Bridge District, Bisnow reported Friday. The loan helps finance The Douglass, a 750-unit property with 40K SF of ground-floor retail. Eighty units in the property will be affordable for those making up to 60% of the area median income. Construction has already begun, and the developer expects it to be complete by mid-2025.
MILESTONES
The D.C. Zoning Commission approved a request by Events DC to reduce the amount of retail planned at Nationals Park. The decision, passed unanimously by the three commissioners attending the virtual meeting, was made after the venue operator nearly lost its temporary certificate of occupancy from the D.C. government over its failure to develop the 46K SF of retail it agreed to in order to commence development in 2006. The ballpark’s temporary certificate was extended again to the end of 2023 in September under the condition that Events DC file a new development plan with the zoning commission. The now-approved plan would see 17K SF of retail along First Street SE. Events DC has agreed to submit a building permit application for that space within six months.
***
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser cut the ribbon Thursday on the Rubell Museum at 65 Eye St. SW, a free museum (for D.C. residents) on the site of the historic Randall School. The museum, which features pieces from the private collection of Miami art collectors Mera and Don Rubell, is scheduled to open Oct. 29. As part of the school's redevelopment, joint venture partners Lowe and Mitsui Fudosan America are also building Gallery 64, a 492-unit apartment building with 98 affordable units, which is slated to open in early 2023.
