This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
JBG Smith, the largest owner and developer in National Landing, announced nine retail kiosk tenants and two restaurants coming to its 1.6-acre outdoor Water Park in the Amazon-anchored neighborhood this summer.
Coming to the 300 SF kiosks are café and wine bar Brij, vegan fast-casual restaurant Bubbie’s Plant Burgers, breakfast sandwich purveyor Cracked Eggery, Indian street food eatery DC Dosa, gelato shop Dolci Gelati, Falafel Inc., Vietnamese-inspired PhoWheels, Tiki Thai and fried chicken joint Queen Mother’s. A 1,400 SF full-service restaurant, Water Bar, and pizza shop Crush Pizza are also set to land at the park this summer.
JBG Smith rezoned the site to allow for outdoor alcoholic beverage consumption. The Water Park will also feature a live performance stage, an interactive water feature and public art installations.
“Our primary intent in designing and programming Water Park was to create an authentic urban community that echoes and embraces the region’s diverse culture,” JBG Smith Senior Vice President of Retail and Leasing Amy Rice said in a press release.
“We’re especially excited to introduce National Landing’s residents, workers and visitors to this dynamic mix of emerging culinary talent.”
Phase 1 of Amazon HQ2, featuring two 22-story high-rises totaling 2.1M SF, is set to open in June. Phase 2, a three-building complex with a silver helix at its center, has been indefinitely paused. JBG Smith is also expected to deliver more than 5,000 new multifamily units to the area, 1,583 of which are under construction.
LEASES
Brown Advisory moved its offices from Chevy Chase to a Pembroke-owned downtown D.C. office building this week. The investment and strategic advisory firm secured 43K SF at 1801 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, a 13-story building with a rooftop, a fitness center and a recently delivered conference center.
The firm was represented by JLL brokers Thomas Doughty, Bobby Blair and Zach Boroson, and the landlord was represented by Cushman & Wakefield's Michael Katcher, Mark Wooters, John Skolnik and Kyle McFadden.
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Ikea announced it will open two “plan & order with pickup” stores in Fairfax, Virginia, and Gaithersburg, Maryland, by the end of the year. The 4,458 SF Fairfax location is scheduled to open this summer, and the 8,882 SF store in Gaithersburg is slated to open in the fall. The stores are a new model for the brand.
“While the Plan & order point and Plan & order point with Pick-up are different from our traditional IKEA stores, we hope they better meet the needs of our local customers and provide an IKEA that’s not only more accessible, but also affordable and sustainable,” IKEA U.S. Market Area Manager Carmen Spinola said in a release.
SALES
Savills brokered the sale of a 67,808 SF office building at 700 Professional Drive in Gaithersburg for $10M. The two-story building on an 8.9-acre site was formerly owned and occupied by the Humane Society of the United States, which had vacated the building at the time it was purchased.
Savills represented HSUS in selling the property to the WorldShine Group, a senior care management company based in Germantown, Maryland, which plans to occupy the building itself. WorldShine was represented by CapStar Commercial Realty’s Sophie Tsai.
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Berkadia brokered the $52M sale of Del Ray Central, a 141-unit multifamily building in Alexandria. The building at 3051 Mount Vernon Ave. also includes 2,670 SF of retail. It was 97% occupied at the time of the sale.
Virginia-based Caruthers Cos. and its partners represented themselves in buying the property and will lead its management.
Toronto-based Manulife Investment Management sold the property in a deal that closed April 26, according to deed records. Walter Coker, Brian Crivella, Yalda Ghamarian and Bill Gribbin of Berkadia DC Metro led the transaction on behalf of the seller.
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The federal government acquired a top-secret intelligence campus in McLean, Virginia, for $531M, the Washington Business Journal reported.
Liberty Crossing Intelligence Campus, constructed in 1982, was owned and sold by Peterson Cos. to the government, care of the director of national intelligence. The campus is made up of two buildings: Liberty Crossing I, which is 461,212 SF, sold for $305M, and the 358,784 SF Liberty Crossing II sold for $225.9M. The 39-acre property is located at 1500 and 1550 Tysons McLean Drive.
MILESTONES
Affordable housing nonprofit Montgomery Housing Partnership broke ground on a $100M development at 9920 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring. The Residences at Forest Glen will consist of 189 units, all reserved for residents earning at or below 60% of the area median income, with some units set aside for those earning at or below 30%, 40% and 50% AMI.
In 2016, MHP acquired the property, built in the 1950s, and determined it was obsolete and cost-prohibitive to renovate. It received zoning approval to nearly triple the units on the property. The project is expected to deliver in 2025.
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Real estate firm Menkiti Group and architecture firm EYA have been selected to lead development of the Providence Hospital campus at 1150 Varnum St. NE.
The plans for the site are not yet set, but early proposals include senior and mixed-income housing, market-rate housing and central gathering spaces, according to the press release. It notes that more than a dozen meetings are planned with the community, beginning in early May, to discuss proposals.
PERSONNEL
Stream Realty hired Ashley Elkin as a vice president for its Northern Virginia office. Elkin was previously a project manager for Beyond20, an IT services and consulting firm. In a release, the firm said Elkin will be responsible for “sourcing, winning, and executing office business across all service lines, including leasing, investment sales, and tenant and landlord representation.”
Stream entered the Northern Virginia market in September 2021 and now has a portfolio of more than 7.6M SF in the area.
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Local real estate firm Buchanan Partners hired longtime JBG Smith veteran Bailey Edelson as a principal. Edelson began her career in the investment group at The JBG Cos. and worked her way up to senior vice president for development at the now-publicly traded REIT JBG Smith.
