DOUGLAS DEVELOPMENT OFFICIALLY ACQUIRES 3 BETHESDA PROPERTIES

DC real estate development powerhouse Douglas Development officially completed a deal that gives it a major chunk of a block in the Woodmont Triangle to redevelop. The properties in question are 8004 and 8006 Wisconsin Avenue, and 8013 Woodmont Avenue. Technically, the purchaser is an entity known as Jemal's Surplus, LLC, after the firm's founder and president, Douglas Jemal.

Douglas Development will now make a go of remaking a site once in the hands of a local competitor, JBG. JBG had essentially the entire block between Cordell and Fairmont Avenues, with the exception of Nathan Landow's Fairmont Plaza. But a deal that would have moved Bethesda's 2nd District police station to the mixed-use project eventually fell through, and JBG gave up on the plan. JBG will still develop the site in between the new Douglas properties and Fairmont Plaza, one of the most architecturally-intriguing designs on the boards right now in Montgomery County.

One advantage of the Douglas acquisitions for nearby residents, is the firm's impressive list of tenants at its other regional projects, which include Zara, H&M and Shake Shack. Douglas also owns the Shops of Wisconsin (home of Trader Joe's) in downtown Bethesda, which it is renovating.