This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
A mixed-use development featuring affordable housing and a church opened this week across from the Ballston Metro station.
The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Unity Homes, which houses 144 affordable units colocated with a church sanctuary, a daycare and a commercial kitchen.
The development at 4201 Fairfax Drive replaced the Central United Methodist Church building on the site. The new development integrates a sanctuary for the congregation with 11 stained-glass windows from the original construction.
The building's units are reserved for residents earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The daycare, Kinhaven School, serves around 90 children. The commercial kitchen, run by Provision Church Catering, will provide on-site meal distribution and other mission-driven catering services.
The $84M project has taken over seven years to reach the ribbon-cutting, ARLnow reported. It was originally proposed by Bozzuto and approved by the county in 2017, but then APAH took over in 2019 and received an extension from the county before breaking ground in December 2021.
“We are proud that Unity Homes at Ballston is finally here — this project encountered multiple obstacles on the path to redevelopment, but together with our partners at CUMC, Arlington County, and so many others, we pressed forward,” APAH President and CEO Carmen Romero said in a statement.
LEASES
German grocery store Lidl is poised to take over a space formerly home to a 106K SF Kohl’s at 2100 Centreville Road in Herndon, the Washington Business Journal reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the situation.
Lidl doesn't intend to take the entire footprint but plans to sublease a portion to two undisclosed tenants, KLNB principal Dimitri Georgelakos, who, along with Michael Patz, represented Tysons-based landlord Rocks Engineering, told the WBJ.
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Global Holdings inked four new office tenants totaling 21K SF at its Washington Harbour mixed-use complex in Georgetown, the landlord announced this week. Law firm Foster Garvey signed for 6K SF, Martek Global signed for 4K SF, iDiscovery Solutions signed for 3K SF, and TD Bank signed for 8K SF. The property at 3000 K St. NW spans 560K SF.
The owner just launched a capital improvement program to renovate 80K SF of the property on the second and fourth floors, adding 16 move-in-ready office suites, a conference center and amenity lounge. Those improvements are expected to deliver in the third quarter.
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A new Italian restaurant is coming to Pennsylvania Avenue. New York-based Cafe Fiorello inked a lease at Hines’ 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, its broker, Miller Walker, announced this week. The café will take up 6,900 SF on the ground floor of the 800K SF building, which is 96% occupied and home to the Carlyle Group's headquarters and law firm Proskauer Rose’s D.C. office.
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Life sciences firm Precision for Medicine renewed its lease at St. John Properties’ Riverside Tech Park in Frederick and expanded to 116K SF. The 41K SF of expansion space will open at 8440 Broadband Drive, one of two new buildings at the park that delivered in January.
SALES
A 1980s-era office building in Northwest was handed to its lender, a subsidiary of KKR, via a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure transaction. An affiliate of Barings relinquished control of the eight-story, 171K SF Chevy Chase Plaza at 5301 Wisconsin Ave. NW, according to documents filed Wednesday. The property has 86K SF of availability across six floors, according to Transwestern’s marketing materials. A KKR spokesperson told Bisnow it believes it can revive the office asset with more investment.
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Carr Properties has acquired a vacant office building at 901 N. Pitt St. in Old Town Alexandria that it plans to convert into a 234-unit apartment building. The D.C.-based firm has planned to convert the property since 2021, but just this week it announced the official acquisition through a sale from The Carr Cos. The building sold in February for $15.4M, the Washington Business Journal reported. Carr Properties plans to break ground in the fall, with delivery expected in late 2026.
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Singh Capital Partners paid $14.25M to acquire a 199K SF office building in Rockville from pension fund MassPRIM. The 1980s-era building at 1801 Rockville Pike last sold in 2004 for $37.2M. It is 65% occupied, but Chief Investment Officer Manpreet Singh said he is already in talks with five prospective tenants.
FINANCING
Monday Properties has refinanced two Arlington office buildings. The New York-based owner announced it refinanced the 35-story 1812 N. Moore St., home to Nestlé's U.S. headquarters, for $173M and the 12-story medical office building Shirlington Gateway at 2800 Shirlington Road for $32.5M. Citi Real Estate Funding Inc. provided a five-year, fixed-rate CMBS loan for the properties.
1812 N. Moore, a 537K SF trophy property, was in danger of being foreclosed on in December by its lender, RBC Real Estate Capital Corp. Monday Properties announced it had eluded that fate after receiving financing later that month, but it didn't reveal the details of that financing. It is 90% leased with an additional 20K SF of deals in the pipeline. Shirlington Gateway is 93% leased.
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JBG Smith announced it has surpassed its goal to create and preserve 3,000 affordable units ahead of its 2025 timeline. JBG reached the milestone for its Impact Pool after providing $6M in mezzanine financing to Montgomery Housing Partnership to refinance its 185-unit age-restricted Franklin Apartments in Takoma Park.
The Bethesda-based REIT created the Impact Pool in 2019 as part of its $115M Washington Housing Initiative, a partnership with the Federal City Council. JBG said there is still more Impact Pool capital to invest in affordable units.
MILESTONES
The Chevy Chase Land Co. announced it has completed a $25M upgrade to its 2 Bethesda Metro office building in downtown Bethesda. Upgrades to the 15-story tower include a new building facade, amenity pavilion and rooftop patio with an open-air fitness area, a revamped lobby, a fitness center, a yoga room and a 20-person conference center. The owner also rolled out a shared amenity program, Ascend by The Chevy Chase Land Co., powered by CBRE’s Host platform and mobile app. Cushman & Wakefield leases the property.
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Washington Property Co. is looking to sell the air rights for one of its planned residential towers at Tysons' Arbor Row. The Bethesda-based firm engaged CBRE to market the proposed development on Block A2, which has the potential for 204,690 SF of development. WPC envisions the parcel as a five-story, market-rate condo building with a wood frame.
A spokesperson for the company told Bisnow WPC has engaged CBRE to “look at all available financing strategies” for Arbor Row.
“Given the success of The Monarch Condominium nearby, and WPC’s belief in the strength of the Tysons Corner market, we decided to explore the possibility of working with a condominium developer on a portion of the first phase of the Arbor Row development,” the spokesperson said in an email.
