Brightwood Becomes Destination on Investor Map

WASHINGTON, DC—Brightwood has been a sleeper submarket in the District, finally catching the attention of investors when Walmart opened its new store at the corner of George Ave., NW and Missouri Ave., NW, at the end of last year.

The Georgia Avenue Walmart, developed by Fougler-Pratt Cos., is no ordinary big box: it features rain garden, green roof, a Capital Bikeshare station and electric car plug-in. Open six months, this Walmart "is creating retail traffic which will eventually snowball into a more diverse mix of retail in this corridor, and the future retail will drive rent growth in this submarket," says Marcus & Millichap's Marty Zupancic.

Then there is the transformation of the old Walter Reed Army Medical Center, about half a mile away. The city recently gave the go-ahead to the Hines-Urban Atlantic proposed plan's "The Parks at Walter Reed" to build 90 townhouses and duplexes, 502 condos and 1,287 rental apartments and a full-service senior center with 182 homes.

All of this activity has, not surprisingly, translated into a price premium for smaller assets in the submarket.

1224 Missouri Avenue NW, a six-unit apartment property located a block away from the Georgia avenue Walmart, has traded for $767,000, or $127,833 per unit—a new high sale comp for this submarket, according to Marcus & Millichap, which brokered the sale.

Grant Fitzgerald had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. The buyer was a limited liability company that Fitzgerald secured and represented.

The building is zoned R-5-A and is sited on 2,691 gross square feet of land.