Need Walking Shoes

to Wear Tuxedo.

I had a problem. My new client was flying to town in a week with cash from a 1031 exchange. She knew exactly the type and location of property she wanted. I knew the perfect place and to my delight there was a unit for sale by it’s owner. I left a message on the property owners voice mail……....every day for a week. No return call. When my client came to town I showed her the market and then we headed for Tuxedo Road. She agreed it was ideal. We started walking the park initially to find the status on the “FISBO” and then we just started asking if they knew any other sellers. On a Friday afternoon at beer-thirty, we came across an owner that was willing to let one of his units go. The unit was better than most in the development.

At $140 psf, the buyer was delighted. The price reflects an improved real estate market where supply and demand create good value.

Cunningham & Associates Office Relocation

My first project with the Cunningham’s was selling a small commercial building they owned in Old Town Alexandria in the year 2000. Over the next fifteen years I have brokered their initial move to Roslyn, two lease renewals, and an expansion. This year Mr. Cunningham turned 80. He wanted to stay in Roslyn, downsize, cut his rent expense in half, and wanted a three year lease per the terms he had negotiated with this wife to continue to practice law. He also wanted an office with a good view. Tenant’s requesting a short lease for a small space with prime views do not typically motivate landlords to sharpen their pencil and offer the best deals. In this case our strategy of proposing immediate occupancy for a good credit tenant on a space that just needed a coat of paint, paid off.

The asking rent for their best option was $37.50 per square foot with 3% escalations every 12 months. We were able to reduce that cost with a rent abatement of $3.50 per square foot, a tenant improvement allowance concession of $5.50 per square foot, and just one rent escalation after 18 months. That amounts to an effective rent of less than $30 per square foot. 

As part of the deal, I agreed not to identify the property by name. Instead of a typical photo of the building I have shown a red box on an aerial view of the building to identify the 11^th floor corner suite location of Cunningham & Associates new office. Good deals can come in small packages.

SUCCESSFUL TRANSPLANT

OF WOODSIDE PEDIATRICS

Martin Kibbe of RE/MAX Commercial represented Woodside

Pediatrics when they were forced to relocate from 8830 Cameron Street in Silver Spring. The practice had been in the same location for 18 years when the building was sold to an owner that was not renewing leases. 

Martin has represented many medical practices and knows the drill. Find a space nearby with plumbing and great parking. To make it more challenging Dr. Adams cited her College Park office as the ideal layout. We helped her find that office almost 10 years earlier.

Unable to find an existing suite that fit the program, Martin put his architectural background to good use stitching two small suites together.

BEFORE - Suite 216 had two exam rooms, an office, lab, bathroom, and a reception / waiting area. Suite 218 had an office, lab, bathroom, and a reception / waiting area.

AFTER - The new Suite 222 has four exam rooms, an office, lab, lunch room, separate bathrooms for patients and staff, plenty of storage and a reception / waiting area with room for those "Cadillac" strollers.

The new office at 1111 Spring Street is a medical building right around the corner from the old office. Easy for the patients to find with better parking. Instead of a small expensive parking lot, the new office is directly across a side street from a County parking garage. 

 

  

5901 Columbia Pike

Car Wash Land Sale

Fairfax County granted the buyer of this acre site a special exception to allow the development of a car wash facility. The seller had been working on this before the property went under contract. The county liked the use, the neighbors liked the use and it still took well over a year for the special exception to be granted so the sale could close.

The buyer is a very experienced car wash developer. The property sold for approximately $38 per square foot.

FSBO. BPO.

The owners of this industrial property in Odenton, Maryland

decided to sell their property - “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO).

Fortunately for them, the buyer looking for just such a property had a good agent and she found this needle in a haystack. The agent asked Marty for his “Brokers Price Opinion” (BPO) and

for his overall advice. Once the sales price was agreed to, the

focus became the environmental study.  The seller’s use raised some concerns but the neighboring Ft. Meade and Anne Arundel County facilities are known offenders. The Phase One study left

a few questions unanswered so soil tests were performed. The

tests determined the property was free from any hazardous

materials and sold for approximately $100 per square foot of  building or $10 per square foot of land ($430,000 per acre).

SOLD

2620 Shirlington Rd.

Arlington, VA

2620 Shirlington Road was home to one of the first Champion Billiards restaurant, billiard hall & furniture showrooms. Built in 1990, Marty was one of its first patrons. The area has much improved.

The buyer was interested in the property a year before the contract was ratified but the seller needed to delay the sale. Hurry up and wait. The property settled for $200 per rentable square foot.

The new owner is entertaining a variety of users. Cube Smart purchased a large parcel nearby and there is an acre of commercial land next door. Development

continues to be strong in Arlington and this area is no exception.

Laurel Maryland Medical

Office Space Gets Top Dollar 

Ten years ago our office was in Laurel. Marty even got the nickname “Mr. Laurel”. We have leased and sold many units in Laurel Hospital’s Medical Arts Pavilion. Recently we settled the largest unit in the property. Suite 110 sold for approximately $240 per square foot.

Most medical office condos, Medical Arts Pavilion office condos, and office condos in general are one-half to one-quarter this units size. Like most medical condos it had improvements that are expensive to install and it had some very specialized rooms and improvements. There were only a handful of medical practices in Laurel that were large enough to consider this space home. Over time and an ever changing real estate market one group presented itself as the obvious buyer. The final deal, like many patients, required a second opinion.