Tiny Wheaton Catches Lowe Enterprises’ Eye

WHEATON, MD-This tiny enclave next to Silver Spring has caught the attention of at least one institutional investor--a pension fund that acquired a five-story, 86,000-square foot office building via Lowe Enterprises Investors. The price paid for the property and its cap rate are confidential, Joe Carrol, a vice president at Lowe Enterprises’ Real Estate Group, tells GlobeSt.com. "What I can tell you," Carrol says, "is that we see Wheaton taking off in the near future, with the development that is going on there, the change in its zoning and its move to become a more pedestrian-friendly neighborhood."

The building, 11141 Georgia Ave., is 73% leased. Lowe plans to invest some $10 million to $15 million in building upgrades. The building is next to the Wheaton metro station and one block away from the Westfield Wheaton shopping center. Also, Carrol notes, Montgomery County is in the process of updating the submarket’s zoning regulations to allow for more flexible, mixed-use development. "It will be a more responsive plan," he says, "similar to what Montgomery County did in White Flint."

Other projects underway in Wheaton include the coming Costco store at the Westfield Wheaton shopping center and the redevelopment of the Safeway on Georgia Avenue. Also, this time last year BF Saul was tapped by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Montgomery County to build a mixed-use, transit-oriented project on 8.2 acres of land owned by WMATA and the county near the Wheaton metro station. The site can hold up to 1.7 million square feet of mixed-use development.

Elsewhere in area, Lowe is focusing on development. It has ventured with JBG to build a mixed-use project in Washington, DC, at the Fort Totten metro station, a few stops away from the Wheaton metro station on the Red Line. It is also venturing on a development project near the Hilton Washington. Both of these projects are expected to break ground next year, Carrol says.