The Future of Ghost Kitchens

Before the pandemic, Washington, DC-based real estate company Calvin Cafritz Enterprises had two culinary spaces totaling 8,500 square feet open at its mixed-use The Station at Riverdale Park property.

The property, which sits in the Washington, DC suburb of Prince George’s County, MD, is home to a Whole Foods, apartments, townhomes and a slew of retailers, including a local brewery. It is near The University of Maryland, the four-mile hiking and biking trail and the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail, which begins north of College Park and runs parallel alongside Rhode Island Avenue to The District.

Calvin Cafritz Enterprises was exploring a number of different options for its culinary spaces at the project. Then the COVID lockdowns started. With people unable or unwilling to eat in restaurants and delivery services taking off, the calculus changed.