This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
A new 33-acre winery that backers say could help boost Maryland's tourism industry is opening Saturday in Montgomery County.
The winery, The Crossvines, is located at 16601 West Willard Road in Poolesville and is owned by the nonprofit Montgomery County Revenue Authority. It was developed by Weller Development Partners.
“After ten years in the making, we’re excited to welcome and introduce the region to The Crossvines,” MCRA CEO Keith Miller said in a release.
“We see tremendous opportunities for local farmers, the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve and the state’s tourism industry, as well as helping to establish Montgomery County as a leader in the viticulture industry.”
The winery will house a 60-seat restaurant from chef Luis Montesinos, an alumnus of José Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup. The wine program will be led by winemaker John Levenberg and assistant winemaker Tyler Henley, in partnership with the University of Maryland.
Montgomery County Revenue Authority owns the 33-acre site on which the winery is located, which also houses a golf course, an event building, a 5-acre vineyard and undeveloped land. The 33 acres are located within Montgomery County’s Agriculture Reserve, a 93K SF protected piece of land that includes farms, breweries, other wineries and rural communities.
LEASES
Residential design company Builders Design signed a lease with St. John Properties for a 15.6K SF warehouse facility at Arcadia Business Park in Frederick, Maryland, according to a press release. The 61-acre park is along Route 85 and Arcadia Drive and features four single-story flex/research and development buildings totaling 160K SF, plus two warehouses that make up 240K SF. The landlord was represented in-house by Danny Foit and NAI Michael’s Lance Schwarz, and Brady Thompson represented Builders Design.
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Five Guys inked a lease for a 2,115 SF location at Crossroads Village Center in Haymarket, KLNB announced in a press release. The mid-Atlantic brokerage firm’s Veronica Kamara and Melissa Welch represented Meladon Group in the deal, and Next Realty’s Scott Thiell represented the tenant. Expected to open in the second quarter of 2024, this will be the sixth Five Guys in Prince William County. It joins other new lessees Noodles & Co., Goodfella’s Pizza, Popeyes, Kung Fu Tea and Crumbl Cookies. The shopping center was delivered last quarter and is anchored by a Lidl grocery store. Eighty townhomes are also under construction within the development.
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Starbucks is moving into a ground-floor retail space in NoMa’s Press House building, PoPville first reported. The global coffee chain took 2,360 SF, and construction is underway, according to Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors, which represented landlord Foulger Pratt. Angie Trosper, who was with CBRE at the time of the deal, represented the tenant.
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Local barbecue restaurant 2Fifty inked a lease in Mount Vernon Triangle, The Washington Post's Tim Carman first reported via Twitter. The restaurant plans to open at 414 K St. NW, where Toscana Market is located, according to Eater DC. Quadrangle owns the mixed-use building, Lydian.
The brand has a stall at Union Market and another location in Riverdale Park where it smokes its meats. Carman reported that one of the owners, Debbie Portillo, said the business is interested in building a smokehouse at its new location, but “it will require a lot of money, lobbying and permitting.” The owners plan on opening in Mount Vernon Triangle in early 2024, according to Eater.
MILESTONES
Residents begin moving into Grosvenor’s new 13-story multifamily building in NoMa this month. Margarite, at 1280 Union Street NE, includes 260 rental units, 6,300 SF of retail and a 6K SF community park. The ground-floor retail hasn't been leased yet. The property is being managed by Bozzuto.
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Fairfax County approved a zoning change to a 24-acre parcel at the West Falls Church Metro Station, clearing the way for one piece of a 3.2M SF public-private redevelopment, the Washington Business Journal reported.
The segment cleared on July 27 is the northernmost of three coordinated public-private developments planned for 42 acres spanning the border between Fairfax County and the city of Falls Church. The recently cleared parcel is slated to include up to 810 multifamily units, 85 townhomes, 110K SF of office and 10K SF of retail. A partnership between EYA, Rushmark Properties and Hoffman & Associates is spearheading the full development.
SALES
Blue Vista Capital Management and CSG Partners sold a 487K SF Stafford industrial facility that is fully leased to FedEx. TF Cornerstone purchased the property along Interstate 95 for $79.5M. Cushman & Wakefield’s Jonathan Carpenter, Graham Savage, Doug Longyear and Eric Robison represented the sellers of the facility at 180 Centreport Parkway, and the buyer was represented in-house.
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Amazon purchased a data center development site near Dulles International Airport for $34.44M, according to Loudoun County deed records. Firefox LLC sold the 24.6-acre property at 44150 Wade Drive in Chantilly to Amazon Data Services Inc. The property appears to be home to a composting facility.
The acquisition comes as the tech giant's Amazon Web Services arm has continued to expand its data center footprint in the region, home to the world's largest concentration of data centers. In January, Amazon committed to spending $35B on Virginia data centers along with new state incentives.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.
