Purple Line-adjacent retail building for sale in Silver Spring

A retail building situated half a block from a future Purple Line station in Silver Spring has just hit the market for sale. 938 Bonifant Street is a 1530-square-foot space constructed in 1954, and renovated in 2022. It is currently built out for use as a spa, but retail, restaurant, office, and medical uses are also permitted under current zoning. The asking price is $795,000, according to the online sale listing.

Kensington Gardens apartments for sale

A landmark residential property in Kensington has hit the market for sale. Kensington Gardens, a seven building garden apartment complex at 3403 University Boulevard West, houses a total of 54 1-and-2-bedroom units on 1.9 acres. The complex dates from the early 1950s, but has undergone extensive renovations this century. There are 54 parking spaces on the property, which is convenient to the commercial areas in Kensington and Wheaton, including Wheaton Plaza. It's also a prime long-term redevelopment investment opportunity - but let's not go there! The asking price is not given in the online sale listing.

House of Printing headed for auction in Burtonsville

The building housing The House of Printing in Burtonsville could be yours, if you are the winning bidder in a pending auction. Located at 15401 Old Columbia Pike, the 1986 structure is currently usable as an industrial property. But it also has tremendous investment potential as a redevelopment site. The asking price is $1,000,000, according to the online auction listing.

Lamoon Thai restaurant for sale in Silver Spring

Do you want to own a Thai restaurant? Lamoon Thai at 906 Thayer Avenue in downtown Silver Spring is now available for sale. The restaurant is still fully open for business, and as such, is being marketed as a turnkey business opportunity for an aspiring restaurateur out there. According to the online sale listing, the asking price is $100,000. There are about thirteen months left on the restaurant's lease.

Prestige Auto Body property for sale in Silver Spring

The property currently home to Prestige Auto Body at 928 and 934 Philadelphia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring is being marketed for sale. It consists of two parcels that total 19,380-square-feet, and two buildings. The online sale listing suggests the portfolio of properties is ideal for continued auto body shop use, or as a future infill redevelopment opportunity. It does not disclose the asking price, however.

Italian Kitchen for sale in Silver Spring

Italian Kitchen is now being offered for sale in Silver Spring. The restaurant closed last August after a successful decade in business. Nearly a year later, a banner attached to the building is announcing the business - not the building - is now available for sale. Italian Kitchen is located at 8201 Fenton Street in downtown Silver Spring.

Franciscan friars selling campus in Silver Spring

Franciscan friars are selling their campus in the Four Corners area of Silver Spring. The site comprises two lots, currently improved with a 3-story retreat center, and a single family home. Located at 10400-10410 Lorain Avenue, the property also has western frontage on the major Maryland commuter route of Colesville Road. Current zoning allows a variety of institutional and residential uses, as well as major redevelopment potential. The latter is a significant driver behind the listing's asking price of $2,150,000.

Silver Spring church lists property for sale

A Silver Spring church has listed its entire property for sale. First Faith Church is located at 12323 Bluhill Road, but has prime frontage along heavily-traveled Randolph Road. The property includes not only the three-level church itself, but also a classroom building, a parsonage residence, and a 40-space parking lot. It's also within walking distance of the Glenmont Metro, if you're in good health and have high-quality walking shoes. Or you could take the M42 or M44 Metrobus from Glenmont Metro, and get off at the Randolph-Bluhill bus stop for Sunday services. 

This church is notable for several reasons, including its architecture. I do not know the name of the architect, but it clearly was designed to fit in seamlessly among the homes around it, using an identical color scheme and materials. The original church structure was built in 1962. You rarely see this level of sensitivity and community spirit in Montgomery County today. 

But, then again, this was happening amid the early years of the golden age of Wheaton and Glenmont. That vaunted era delivered countless architectural gems that today's developers don't often have the time or financial generosity to provide. We continue to admire those that remain standing, like the fine and sturdy midcentury modern brick homes, or the Aspen Hill Library. And mourn the loss of those that have been mindlessly demolished, such as the Wheaton Youth Center. Yes, Led Zeppelin did play there.

Real estate broker NAIknlb is marketing the property as a turnkey church opportunity. One imagines that the increasingly-bonkers zoning guidelines of Montgomery County may also permit all kinds of lucrative redevelopment options, as well. Cue the rubbing hands of developers. The asking price is $3,200,000, according to the online listing.

Landmark Kensington office building on the market for sale

The phrase "landmark Kensington office building" can apply to multiple properties along Connecticut Avenue and University Boulevard West. But one of them can now be yours for an unpublicized price. 10801 Connecticut Avenue is prominently positioned at the junction of University and Connecticut. The headquarters of The International Eye Foundation was built in 1981, and offers 4,266-square-feet of office space on a 5,754 SF lot. IEF has been a longtime technical advisor to USAID's Child Blindness Program. If I had a dime for every time I passed this building in a car or Metrobus, I could buy it! The broker for the property is One Street Commercial Properties.

Wheaton commercial building hits the market for sale again

A commercial building in Wheaton that has seen heavy turnover in recent years is now on the market for sale once again. 2670 University Boulevard W. is in a prime spot on a heavily-traveled commuter route, but for some reason hasn't been able to find the right tenant since community fixture Wheaton Tile Center moved out. Since 2016, Doña Bessy Pupuseria, Alyssa's Mangonadas, and even an evangelical church have given the storefront a whirl, to no avail. The building was then auctioned off this past January, and the new owner has quickly put it up for sale for the asking price of $1,700,000, according to the online sale listing. 

Gas station for sale in Four Corners area of Silver Spring

A gas station is for sale in a very lucrative spot to operate such a business in Silver Spring. The Shell station property is located at 10144 Colesville Road in Four Corners. That's not only one of the heaviest traveled intersections in Montgomery County, but it's also near a Capital Beltway interchange. The asking price is not disclosed in the online sale listing. You will likely have to sign the confidentiality agreement to obtain some details about the potential negotiations and transaction.

Downtown Silver Spring retail building for sale

Real estate investors looking for a revenue-generating opportunity have a prime retail property to look into in downtown Silver Spring. 8215 Fenton Street is a two-level, fully-leased building that marketing materials say was constructed in 1973, but looks much newer than that. It is bordered on the north side of the property by Ripley Street, and includes 5 parking spaces. The asking price for the property is $3,000,000, according to the online listing.

Downtown Silver Spring retail building for sale

A three-level retail building at 8241 Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring has hit the market for sale. It is fully-leased with seven tenants. Constructed in 1987, the building is really a mini-mall in its layout, which includes an elevator servicing all three levels. It will also be a prime redevelopment opportunity in the future. That is one of the reasons the asking price is $5,000,000, according to the online listing. Another reason is that the current owner kept rents lower to retain tenants during the pandemic and Purple Line construction, leaving the new owner a justification to raise them once the light rail system opens in 2027.

Love this retro 80s design

Photos courtesy Larry Rosen Commercial & Investment Realty Associates, LLC

You could live in this Silver Spring firehouse!

Have you always wanted to live in a firehouse without the danger of actually risking your life as a firefighter? This Silver Spring property is for you! Located at the historic National Park Seminary, Firehouse-1 at 2701 Hume Drive #200 was actually a working firehouse at NPS in the early 1900s. Now it is a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom condo with everything from a Bertazzoni gas range to an electric car charger, topped off by a rooftop patio. Yet, it still retains many of the visual cues of a retro firehouse. The asking price is $729,000, according to the online listing. 

Silver Spring retail building for sale

A retail building in downtown Silver Spring is now being offered for sale. 8618 Fenton Street is a 9,700-square-foot commercial building that is currently home to Rostas Collections. Built in 2010, the structure contains three levels, and has elevator access to all floors. The asking price is $4,000,000, according to the online sale listing. Rostas Collections remains open for business at this time.

Crepe Lena kiosk at Wheaton Plaza for sale

Aspiring restaurateurs have a potential business opportunity in the food court at Westfield's Wheaton Plaza mall. The Crepe Lena & Ice Cream kiosk is now available for sale. Whoever buys it will also have to pay the $5000 monthly rent to Westfield. The 200-square-foot kiosk is being offered for $100,000, with all Crepe Lena equipment included. 

The kiosk lease runs until December 31, 2027. According to the sale listing, the current owner is putting the kiosk on the market in order to focus on another business. Crepe Lena employs five people, and the current owner will train the new owner for two weeks to get him or her up to speed.

Olney Golf Park redevelopment could "shape the future of a community"

A major new development could be in the works for Georgia Avenue in Olney. The 22-acre property at 3414 Emory Church Road currently occupied by the Olney Golf Park has just hit the market for sale. A buyer could replace the expansive driving range with housing and retail. In the 1980s and 90s, that might have meant a strip mall with single-family homes behind it. Today, it's more likely to mean multifamily housing of one or more types, with retail facing Georgia Avenue.

The golf park site could expand in size, as
several adjacent property owners are
"amenable to sale"

The property is adjacent to a signaled intersection, has existing utility connections suitable for a variety of land uses, and is a half-mile from the InterCounty Connector (ICC). A Request for Proposal invites potential investment buyers to be part of a "rare chance to shape the future of a community." The property is in the Sherwood school cluster, although the RFP notes that the elite Good Counsel High School is also nearby. A new development could easily exceed the 22-acres now available for the right buyer, as the RFP states that the owners of the adjacent Barnes, Johnson, and Pathways properties are open to purchase offers.

Cubano's building for sale in downtown Silver Spring

The former Cubano's restaurant building at 1201 Fidler Lane in downtown Silver Spring is now available for sale. Prospective buyers could choose to open a new restaurant using the existing kitchen infrastructure, or redevelop the 4352-square-foot property, which has a 200' allowable height limit under the existing zoning. 

The asking price for the building is $2,750,000, according to the online listing, and leasing at a rate of $14,000-per-month NNN is also an option offered. "NNN" - which stands for triple net lease - means you as the tenant pay all operating expenses for the property in addition to the monthly rent, such as taxes and insurance. Still hungry for Cubano's? You're in luck: their downtown Bethesda location is still open.

Silver Spring apartment building for sale

One of the apartment buildings to pop up in downtown Silver Spring over the last decade has already hit the market for sale. Fenwick Apartments at 8616 2nd Avenue is a stack-and-pack style mid-rise development with 311 units. Located 5 minutes from the Silver Spring Metro station, the building's 20,000 square feet of amenity space includes an art collection, a fitness studio, a pool, and a private business center. The listing indicates the building was completed in 2014, but does not include the asking price for the property.

Wheaton Service Center property for sale

The property currently home to Wheaton Service Center at 11321 Fern Street is now on the market. Wheaton Service Center is still operating on the site, but a property brochure by broker AMR Commercial, LLC states that it is "available for new occupant." The asking price for the property is not yet publicly listed, however, requiring potential buyers to inquire directly. Located within a 5-minute walking distance from the Wheaton Metro station, the property currently has a 6-bay garage with lifts, two storage buildings, about 16 parking spaces, and is zoned for a maximum building height of 100' if redeveloped.

Photos courtesy AMR Commercial, LLC