This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet: Vacant Chinatown Building Sells For $4M

New plans are in store for a vacant building a block from the Chinatown archway after it traded hands last week.

The 10K SF property at the corner of Eighth and H Streets NW has been vacant for several years. It was sold for $4.2M to 717-719 H ST LLC, managed by Katie Diem Dang and Hung Dinh Tran, according to documents with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds. Dang didn't respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

The previous owner, L3 Capital, purchased the property vacant in 2019 for $6M and brought it to market with Feldman Ruel Urban Property Advisors last summer with a listing price of $5.75M. 

“We are excited to get this one done in not only a very tough macro environment, but also during a time when the Chinatown/downtown submarket is extremely challenged,” Feldman Ruel Managing Principal Ian Ruel wrote in an email to Bisnow. “The buyer has an exciting value-add plan that should bring this very prominent corner building back to life.”

The property is an assemblage of three buildings, two dating back to the late 1800s and one from the early 1900s. They were combined in the mid-to-late 20th century, according to documents filed with the Historic Preservation Office. 

LEASES

Two retailers are coming to Skanska’s new Heming apartment building in McLean. Local bakery Sunday Morning Bakehouse inked a lease for 3,100 SF and Apparati Wellness Studio for 3,700 SF on the ground floor of the 410-unit development. Both are expected to open in the fourth quarter. It is Sunday Morning’s second location after opening at North Bethesda's Pike & Rose in 2019. Ethos Tenant Co. represented Sunday Morning Bakehouse, and KLNB represented Skanska. 

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A Trader Joe's is headed for northeast’s Brookland neighborhood. The grocery store with a cult following has applied for a permit with D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration for a location at 701 Monroe St. NE. The building, branded as The Everton, is owned by Pritzker Realty Group and has a 14,600 SF retail space where residents have been hoping for a grocery store for years. 

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Andreessen Horowitz, one of the world’s largest venture capital firms, is planting roots in downtown D.C. The tech-focused investment firm, which also goes by a16z, is preparing to take a 12K SF sublease at 800 17th St. NW, the Washington Business Journal reported, citing sources. The sublease is for FedEx’s space at the property and is expected to last through the lease expiration in 2029.  

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Residents of The Parks at Walter Reed mixed-use neighborhood are getting a new ice cream shop on the eve of Memorial Day weekend. The Charmery, a Baltimore-based creamery, is opening its first D.C. location at the development Friday. The 1,425 SF shop is coming to Hines’ Kite House condominium building at 7175 12th St. NW. The Parks At Walter Reed, planned to total 3.1M SF at completion, is a joint effort between Hines, Urban Atlantic and Triden Development.

SALES

A new, 110-unit Union Market apartment building was sold at a foreclosure auction for $38.3M Thursday. Silver Spring-based HH Fund placed the winning bid for The Lanes at Union Market at 400 Florida Ave. NE. The owner, local investor Srinivas Chavali, brought the property to auction after purchasing the note in January from EagleBank. CBRE’s multifamily team, led by Martha Hastings and Michael Muldowney, marketed the building and procured the buyer.

FINANCING 

Community Preservation Corp.  closed a $3.65M equity investment to create and preserve affordability at two local multifamily properties totaling 183 units, it announced this week. The New York-based nonprofit partnered with other investors to acquire the 118-unit Capitol Square in Brentwood, Maryland, and 65-unit Tunlaw Courts in the Foxhall/Glover Park neighborhood.

For Capitol Square, a limited partnership between CPC and A. Walker and Co. partnered with BrookWynn Capital LLC. That investment is intended to preserve the long-term affordability of 65% of the homes at the property and provide wrap-around services for residents. For Tunlaw Courts, it partnered with a joint venture of Mosaic Affordable Housing and Vantage Realty Capital. The team is set to undertake buildingwide system repairs and renovate half of the apartments. It is also planning to restrict 50% of Tunlaw's units for renters at or below 80% of the area median income.

PERSONNEL 

Monday Properties has hired Kenny Marines as senior vice president of asset management, the Rosslyn-based company announced this week. Marines will spearhead Monday Property’s business development and operational strategies for its office and multifamily portfolios. Marines comes from RXR Realty, where he was a senior vice president of development asset management for the past two and a half years, according to his LinkedIn profile.  

UPDATE, MAY 31, 4 P.M. ET: This article has been updated to include another partner on Capitol Square.