EYA Buys Rockville Strip Center For Redevelopment: The D.C. Deal Sheet
A shopping center site in Rockville that has sat vacant for more than a decade is nearing the end of its obsolescence.
EYA, which plans to redevelop the Rockshire Village Center into a 60-home community, has closed on the acquisition of the property, the developer announced this week. The deal allows it to start construction next month.
“For years, this site has sat dormant within a thriving community,” EYA Chief Acquisitions Officer Aakash Thakkar said in a release. “We worked closely with the city and community to transform this outdated commercial site into a vibrant, walkable neighborhood.”
The developer plans to build 31 single-family homes and 29 townhomes on the 7.3-acre site, along with 5,200 SF for either office or retail tenants. The community will also feature a public park and a playground. Delivery is expected in 2027.
EYA’s plans for the site have been in the works since 2023, but the shopping center had been eyed for redevelopment years before that. The property owners pitched a residential development in 2016, and the city of Rockville ordered a study to determine its next use in 2019.
LEASES
Pennsylvania Avenue’s massive Market Square landed 85K SF of leases across 14 deals in the first half of the year, broker JLL announced. PRP Real Estate Investment Management acquired the 707K SF property on Pennsylvania Avenue for $323M in March 2024 and has inked 140K SF across 21 deals since then. The leasing since the acquisition has taken the property from 85% to 95% leased. JLL’s Evan Behr, Mac Hall and Jeanette Ko represent PRP in leasing the property.
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After being closed for less than a month, Qui Qui is making a comeback. The Puerto Rican restaurant is taking just over 2K SF at 3227 Georgia Ave. NW in Park View, where Georgian eatery Tabla closed earlier this year. Miller Walker’s Gabriel Miller represented the landlord, and Willard Retail’s Ken Johnson represented the tenant. Qui Qui’s last service at its former Shaw location was June 22. It is planning to open its new location in mid-August, Eater reported.
FINANCING
HH Fund secured a $21M bridge loan for a 110-unit mixed-use building in the Union Market neighborhood. M&T Realty Capital Corp. provided the two-year interest-only loan for The Lanes at Union Market at 400 Florida Ave. NE, it announced. Baltimore-based HH Fund, which focuses on student housing, purchased The Lanes at a foreclosure sale in May 2024 for $38.3M, Bisnow reported at the time. HH is repurposing the building from conventional multifamily into student housing, and the release says that about half the units are occupied by local students. M&T’s Dan Lynch led the transaction, and Joanie Wilson and Connor Quigley assisted.
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Kairos Investment Management Co. secured a $38.3M loan for a downtown office building it purchased at the end of 2023. Harbor Group International provided the loan for 1250 Eye St. NW, which it said will refinance the property and fund renovations. Kairos bought the 180K SF building in December 2023 from Rockville-based DSC Partners for $36M. Its new loan is about $20M more than the balance on the previous debt, D.C. deed records show.
SALES
Peterson Cos. acquired its first apartment building in D.C. this week. The 60-year-old company, which has a large portfolio in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, purchased The Batley, a 432-unit mixed-use building in the Union Market neighborhood, from JBG Smith. The firm paid $155M for the property at 1270 Fourth St. NE, according to D.C. deed records. JBG Smith had acquired the property in 2021 for $205M, and it was marketing it in March with an asking price of $180M, Bisnow reported at the time.
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Baltimore-based Sage Ventures purchased a pair of office buildings in Fairfax’s Seven Corners neighborhood for $33.7M, the Washington Business Journal reported. BoundTrain sold 6400 and 6402 Arlington Blvd., which total 410K SF. The properties are about 76% leased, and Newmark has been tapped to lease the property, Sage Ventures Vice President Moshe Crane told Bisnow. The towers were built in 1972 and 1988 as the headquarters for First Virginia Bank, according to BoundTrain’s website.
PERSONNEL
Gensler hired Michael Marshall, who led his own architecture firm in the D.C. region for more than 30 years, as a design director, working out of its Washington, D.C., office. Marshall will help support design strategy across civic, institutional and multifamily projects, the firm announced this week. He will be closing up shop at Michael Marshall Design, which worked on some of the region’s highest-profile projects, including Amazon HQ2, Audi Field and the planned redevelopment of the Reeves Center.
