Sold as a Six Pack

300 Thomas Drive

Sold as a Six Pack

300 Thomas Drive is comprised of six office condominiums. The owner of two units was deceased, an owner of two units had retired, and the remaining two unit owners were ready to retire.

The condo board authorized Marty to list the entire property for sale instead of selling individual units. The building sold for approximately $110 per square foot.

LOOSE LIPS, SINK SHIPS

In honor of his late father and to provide for his mother, their son took over the operation of the family sports bar… for a time. Then he had a better idea – have me sell the property so his mother had a nest egg and he could get back to his life. Made sense to me.

The existing business had no value. The kitchen had no working kitchen equipment and there seemed to be more drinking in the parking lot than in the bar. The business and the building may not have had any special value, but the property and its location did. Located on a busy block with plenty of traffic the property was one of only a few with good parking and access to both north and south bound lanes of Route 1.

Once the bar was closed and the personal property removed, the property was available for showings. The second group through the property made an acceptable offer. After settlement the buyer confessed they owned the business directly across the street. They didn’t have an immediate use for the property but didn’t want it to be acquired by one of their competitors. 

Undoubtedly there were many things said at that bar over the years that people wish they hadn’t said. Many brokers would agree that the settlement table has a similar reputation. They advise their clients that “loose lips, sink ships.”

Big or Small We Do Them All.

After selling the four commercial property assembly on Compton I was asked by one of the buyers to find a tenant for the second floor of the property they purchased. Most brokers would not consider this a jewel of a listing but I had gotten so many calls looking for a small office I knew it was in demand. It is now the new home of Allore Skin Care. 

Allore's lease had expired and the owner of that building decided to sell the property instead of renewing the tenant’s leases. In the small world category, I had already been asked by the owner of that property to list it for sale. Big or small, we do them all.

There is no Compton Avenue in Monopoly.

Remember in the game of Monopoly when you trade in four green houses for a big red hotel? I expected to see a real life version of that when husband and wife attorneys had me list 305, 307, 309, and 311 Compton Avenue for sale. Little green houses on land that was zoned commercial, ready for that big red hotel.

The first offer came from a large apartment construction company. Were they interested in buying it all to build a big red apartment building? No. They bought just the end property at 305 Compton for office space. Next a dentist bought the other end at 311 and half of the land on 309 Compton. Finally a local builder bought 307 and the rest of 309 Compton for their office.  

Like the game of Monopoly, we ended up with a variety of players. My client’s marker got to pass Go and collect $200. The others all got to buy the properties they wanted and can offer their guests plenty of Free Parking.

SIGN HERE

When I was hired on as the broker to help the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors (PHCC) lease space they were not using, the first thing they asked me to do was put my SIGN HERE.

Today I got a sign call like many from someone looking for an office or two. The space I have is 3,500 SF and can not be divided. For these callers I refer them to my database of all spaces for lease in Falls Church. Hopefully they find an appropriate lease to SIGN HERE -   http://bit.ly/cfccommercial   

Asthma and Allergy               Office Search

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. The great architect Le Corbusier is quoted as saying “I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and allows less room for lies.” I find that is so appropriate when I am working with clients looking for office space. Until a client’s wish list is translated to a floor plan there is a lot of room for lies.

 After touring the market for an appropriate location for my client's asthma and allergy practice we came to an agreement on terms with the owner of the Musgrove Medical Arts Center. It appeared that a suite once occupied by an orthopedic practice was about the right amount of space for their program. The doctor's provided me with a simple and very helpful wish list. 

After a number of initial schemes, we settled on a good overall layout.

Two areas stood out as needing further attention. The area for the doctor’s offices and the nurse’s station - lab area. Both of those area’s needed to be locked and access to them protected.

The office area was easy to resolve, expanding the third office to eliminate a dead end hallway and picking up an additional window. This expansion office area turned out so nice one of the physicians choose it as her office. Locked doors at certain points and a separate staff entrance were a must.

The nurse’s station – lab area went through a couple rounds of design development. It was central to the function of the office yet it had to be secure and the lab area had an additional level of security. The sketch below shows the detailed development to ensure there was room for the refrigerator.

After all plan layout issues were resolved, flooring and other finishes were chosen. What type of surface do you want in a lab area? If someone drops a vile you don’t want it landing on a hard surface that may cause it to break but carpet is definitely a no-no. Luckily there are some great new floor surfaces.

From wish list to final plan we packed a lot of function into a small suite but left no room for lies.

Laurel Maryland Medical

Triple Condo Sale

“Mr. Laurel” took over the listing of this triple-unit Laurel Lakes medical condo that had been on the market for years. Marty applied his architectural skills to surgically remove one unit from the other two to create multiple buyer options. The plan worked so well a family of doctors (two brothers, a sister and their father) bought the entire property. Suites 8313-8315-8317 Cherry Lane  sold for approximately $160 per square foot.

Most condos in general are one-half to one-quarter this size. Like most medical condos it had infrastructure that is expensive to install, and like many well used offices, the interior required major renovation.