GAITHERSBURG, MD — Finmarc Management, Inc., a diversified commercial real estate investment and management firm headquartered in Bethesda has announced the sale of 620 E. Diamond Ave. in Gaithersburg, a two-story building containing 25,000 s/f of flex/office space, to Identity, Inc. for nearly $4.35 million. The asset was part of a nine-building portfolio comprising 342,000 s/f of flex/office, commercial office, retail, and warehouse space purchased by Finmarc in 2014 from First Potomac Realty Trust. The building, which is contained on a 1.98-acre parcel in the Gaithersburg section of Montgomery County, was 50% occupied at the time of the sales transaction. Ken Fellows and Rob Pugh of KLNB represented the seller and Jhon Pacheco of CBRE represented the buyer in this sales transaction. Aaron Rosenfeld of Kelley Drye Warren provided legal services to Finmarc.
The asset is positioned within proximity to I-270, MD Rte. 200, MD Rte. 355 and the Shady Grove Metro Station and is 20 miles from Washington, DC and 40 miles from BWI Airport.
Identity, a non-profit organization which operates four high school Wellness Centers and two Youth Opportunity Centers in Montgomery County, intends to relocate its headquarters and 50 employees to 620 E. Diamond Ave. later this year. The group provides a broad array of programs and services focused on supporting the physical, social, emotional, and mental wellbeing of Latino and other historically underserved youth throughout their high school years.
“This sale continues our strategy of disposing select assets, as demonstrated by last year’s sale of 7375 Boston Blvd. in Springfield, VA, as well as Largo Town Center, a 280,000 s/f regional retail center in Upper Marlboro, MD, and to deploy the generated funds into emerging acquisition opportunities we expect to uncover in 2024,” said David Fink, principal, Finmarc. “A rapidly-rising interest rate environment brought investment sales activity to a virtual standstill last year.
But, prospects of lower benchmark rates, pent-up demand, and our team’s ability to identify value-add opportunities in various asset classes positions us as preferred buyers in the year ahead.
“We are particularly attracted to under-performing properties that provides our team the opportunity to create long-term and sustained value with the implementation of proven leasing and asset management strategies that lower operational expenses,” Fink added. “We also have a distinct advantage among others given our ready access to our internal capital, combined with our certainty to close which instill confidence among sellers.”
Fink added that Identity acquired a well-maintained asset with in-place tenants that will provide immediate cash flow to the non-profit organization.
“Identity is a highly-respected organization which provides extremely important services to the underserved population of Montgomery County and its presence in Girard Place will pay valuable dividends to the local Gaithersburg community,” he added.