Historic Bethesda bank building sells at a loss in auction

The historic former Bank of Bethesda building at 7500 Wisconsin Avenue was auctioned off in March. A resulting real estate transaction, which closed on April 23, has just been entered into Maryland property records. The winning bid was $4,100,000, a significant haircut from the last sale of the building in 2020, when it sold for $6,175,000. That sale was in turn a major drop in value from the $9,300,000 SunTrust (now Truist) paid for the landmark crossroads property in 2016. SunTrust had sold the building in 2008 for $5.5 million, so it's been a money loser for every buyer for over a decade now.

Who acquired the bank building late last month, and what can we expect to happen to it? The property record is too confusing to reach a solid conclusion on that at the moment. "DNA Real Properties LLC" is listed as the new owner. That entity is a real estate firm located in Las Vegas, with no public-facing website that I can locate. But...the address given on the state record for DNA Real Properties LLC is right here in Montgomery County, at 3111 Automobile Boulevard in Silver Spring. That's the Koons Silver Spring auto dealership at the Montgomery Auto Sales Park. 

But the property at 3111 Automobile Boulevard is not owned by DNA Real Properties LLC. The dealership site is currently owned by the Mary A. Nonnemacker et al Trust. That is the only property at the Auto Sales Park owned by that trust, and as far as my research finds, the only Koons dealership property owned by the trust in Maryland.

Koons recently opened an urban-style Lincoln dealership in downtown Bethesda. Will the bank building become another storefront dealership for Koons, or do DNA Real Properties or the Mary A. Nonnemacker trust have other plans? Who is the real owner, and where are they actually located? Was DNA a holding company for the property until the real buyer could obtain financing and close on it, and is mistakenly listed as still being the current owner? The transaction record raises almost as many questions as it answers.

Historic Bank of Bethesda building to be auctioned off online

A historic Bethesda landmark could be yours next month, if you win an online auction of the property, located at one of Montgomery County's most-heavily traveled crossroads in downtown Bethesda. The Bank of Bethesda building opened in 1927 at 7500 Wisconsin Avenue. It sits at the crossroads of Wisconsin, East-West Highway and Old Georgetown Road, and directly opposite the Bethesda Metro station. The building would later transfer to other banks, such as Crestar and - most recently - SunTrust. 

A Prince George's County development firm acquired the building for $6,175,000 in 2020. The reason for the "low" price at such a prime location is largely tied to the fact that redevelopment options are far more restrained than for a non-historic property. As we've seen at The Whitney up the street, residential or office space can be added to a historic property, if key structures and facades are retained. So there is lucrative potential for the site with the right architectural vision, but a developer can't simply raze the bank and redevelop every square foot of the property. Alternatively, a new owner can keep the building as-is, and lease it out to banks or other retail/office tenants for significant income.

Transwestern is handling the auction, which will be held online starting March 19, 2024, and continuing through March 21. The starting bid is $1,250,000. Could it go for less than $6,175,000? Given how much you could charge for rent in the Bethesda market, or realize in a partial redevelopment/addition to the site, that could end up being a steal.

Potential facade changes to historic Bethesda bank building revealed (Photos)

The historic bank building at 7500 Wisconsin Avenue was just sold to a regional developer. That new owner will have the right to redevelop the property. But if it remains as-is, and is merely leased to new tenants, we're now getting our first look at how the 1927 building might be altered in these renderings released by KNLB.

Renderings courtesy KLNB

Historic downtown Bethesda bank building sold

After sitting on the market for several years, the landmark bank building at 7500 Wisconsin Avenue has been sold. The purchaser of the 1927 structure appears to be a shell company of Carrollton Development Group of Beltsville. According to Maryland real estate records, the building was sold for $6,175,000.

CDG's portfolio is primarily comprised of Prince George's County properties. None of those have yet been redeveloped into the type of project that might be possible here under the Bethesda Downtown Plan, so it's unclear how quickly they would seek to redevelop rather than simply lease the building. 

The property is one of the highest profile sites in Bethesda, at the crossroads of Wisconsin, Old Georgetown Road, and East-West Highway. Whatever happens, hopefully we get a Times Square news ticker and video screen at this intersection out of it!

SunTrust reacquires 7500 Wisconsin property in Bethesda

SunTrust Banks, Inc. has bought back its former property at 7500 Wisconsin Avenue, at the main crossroads of downtown Bethesda. While the site has continued to host an operating bank branch, the corporation sold the property for $5.5 million in January 2008. SunTrust is taking a loss on the deal in the short term, as it had to pay $9.3 million to reacquire it a few weeks ago.

The property is within the upper left corner
of the lower red area indicated on this
map of heights near the Bethesda Metro
(via Montgomery County Planning Department)

The long-term investment picture is considerably brighter for the Atlanta-based corporation. 7500 Wisconsin falls within the area targeted for 200-290' tall buildings under the Bethesda Downtown sector plan likely to be approved by the Montgomery County Council.

Flatiron Building in
New York City
(via Google Maps)

7500 Wisconsin and adjacent
properties sit on a similar
triangular-shaped plot of
land at an urban crossroads

While the building is an iconic one in downtown Bethesda, it could be part of a highly-lucrative assembly and redevelopment in the future. I'm thinking something like the landmark Flatiron Building in New York. If redevelopment isn't in mind, why else would they blow $9 million on this?