Silver Spring's Ellsworth Place Mall Trades For $92M

The five-story Ellsworth Place mall in Downtown Silver Spring, which underwent a major renovation in 2016, now has a new owner.

Brentwood, Tennessee-based GBT Realty Corp. acquired Ellsworth Place from Petrie Richardson Ventures and Rockwood Capital for $92M, the investor announced Tuesday. 

The 350K SF mall sits at the corner of Colesville Road and Fenton Street, about a quarter-mile from the Silver Spring Metro station. It features Dave & Busters, Guitar Center, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Forever 21 Red, Michaels, Marshalls, Burlington, Not Your Average Joe's and several other retailers. The property is 93% leased with 24K SF available on floors one, three and four. 

Petrie Richardson and Rockwood in 2012 acquired the property, built in 1992 as the City Place Mall, and completed a major renovation in 2016. The renovation drew Dave & Busters, T.J. Maxx, Michaels, Guitar Center and Ross to the mall. In May 2017, the owners retained Newmark Knight Frank to market the property for sale. 

GBT, in partnership with Equity Resource Investments and Chilean investor Avante Financial Group, closed on the acquisition Friday. The investor said it liked the property because of its location in a dense urban environment, the area's low retail vacancy and its ability to add value. The property is approved for an additional 250K SF of office space. 

“This acquisition affords GBT with a tremendous opportunity to expand within this thriving downtown market,” GBT Director of Leasing Fraser Schaufele said in a release. “Not only does the available space enable us to bring additional popular brands and amenities to the center and the submarket, but we expect to create asset value as rents are renegotiated to current market levels as leases expire.”