DC powerhouse real estate firm Douglas Development is making moves on the downtown Bethesda chess board again. Founder and president Douglas Jemal hasn't made the most predictable moves here of late. While delivering such large-scale projects as New City DC in Ivy City, the company hasn't assembled large lots in Bethesda. The latest transactions are again modest in scale, with LLCs tied to Bethesda-based Greenhill Companies, a major real estate firm in Montgomery County.
It appears the companies have made a swap of properties in the Woodmont Triangle. Douglas last month acquired the low-rise office building at 4933 Auburn Avenue for $1,741,800, according to Maryland real estate records. In turn, it sold a parking lot at 4906 Del Ray Avenue to Greenhill for the exact same price. Longtime readers may recall Douglas purchased that lot in 2014.
Douglas previously relinquished plans to redevelop 8008 Wisconsin Avenue, and did not acquire the adjoining gas station lot next to its Hampden Lane property. But it did manage to attract one of the top retail tenants imaginable, Target, to its Shops of Wisconsin mall at 6831 Wisconsin Avenue. The track record and cachet of Douglas make its Bethesda deals worth following.
As part of eventually redeveloping these properties, I hope they can move the utility lines underground.
ReplyDeleteI think it's save to say that most low rise properties in Bethesda will eventually be redeveloped.