Millennial Developer Buys H Street Properties, Plans Mixed-Use Project
A small, DC-based developer has acquired two adjacent buildings on the bustling H Street corridor with plans for a mixed-use project.
11th Property Group, led by CEO Jay Gross, this week bought 1338 H St. NE, a 1,656 SF retail property where Smokey's Barbershop has operated since 1999. The property was sold by the owner of the barbershop for $835K and brokered by The Feldman Group of Marcus & Millichap.
Last summer, Gross acquired the adjacent vacant storefront at 1336 H St. for $950K. The developer plans to combine the storefronts into one roughly 3K SF retail space, with 30 feet of frontage, and build apartments on top. He has not determined how many units the project will have, but he does not plan to increase the site's maximum density, which he said allows just over 8K SF total. Gross is aiming to deliver the project during summer 2018.
Gross, 28, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2011 and started 11th Property Group in 2013. The developer's portfolio includes one- to five-unit residential projects in Georgetown, Petworth, Cleveland Park and Columba Heights.
11th Property Group is working with broker Anthony Bolling to lease the H Street retail space. Gross said he has not decided what type of tenant he plans to pursue.
The property sits on one of the busiest blocks of H Street, across from Eric Bruner-Yang's Maketto, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and popular bars Rock & Roll Hotel, Biergarten Haus and H Street Country Club.
"One of the things we like is it is a little bit more on the artistic side of the city versus the more business-centric side," Gross said. "We think a lot of the different arts and cultural things will be attractive to our future residents and retail tenants."
