MCB Real Estate buys Takoma Park Shopping Center - Washington Business Journal

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The company has been bulking in Greater Washington.

Baltimore-based MCB Real Estate has bought another D.C.-area property.

The company announced Friday that it has acquired the Giant Food-anchored Takoma Park Shopping Center in Silver Spring for nearly $15 million. The 62-year-old center was last acquired by an affiliate of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Westbrook Partners in October 2021 for $13.25 million, according to state property and corporate records.

Giant occupies nearly 90% of the 51,205 square-foot shopping center at 8750 Arliss St. Montgomery Beauty School is the center's other tenant, currently occupying 2,538 square feet, and after a planned expansion, will fill the remainder of the center's vacant space.

The acquisition is the latest in a series of Greater Washington purchases made by MCB, which has considerably grown its D.C. and District-adjacent portfolio in recent years. In May, MCB announced it would take over the long-stalled Viva White Oak development in Silver Spring, and just last week, a lending company chaired by MCB CEO P. David Bramble financed a deal to move the Mandala School in Columbia to a new campus in Bowie.

MCB was founded it 2007 and is perhaps best known for its recent purchase of the Harborplace complex in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, which it plans to redevelop. Its acquisitions in Greater Washington have accelerated over the last three years, said Drew Gorman, an MCB principal. MCB has a D.C. office at 4001 Brandywine St. NW.

"The D.C. market, which includes lots of area around Maryland, has always been attractive to us, but we're very careful and methodical about what we do," Gorman said. "Those kind of Southern Maryland and Prince George's and in closer to D.C. areas were kind of complementary to what we were doing in Baltimore."

MCB's relationship with locally operating grocery chains helped secure the deal, according to MCB managing Partner and co-founder Peter Pinkard.

“MCB has cultivated deep trust with the grocers like Giant and our years-long connection with them was crucial in coming to an agreement on this transaction and obtaining a very popular asset that’s poised for even greater success," Pinkard said in a statement.

According to Pinkard, the high foot traffic at the shopping center, it had more than 1.1 million consumer visits in 2023, and the dense population surrounding were key factors in MCB's decision to acquire the property. The company expects that foot traffic will only increase when the Long Branch station of the Purple Line opens nearby later this decade. The Purple Line, which has been beset by multiple delays since construction started in 2017, is now scheduled to be completed in 2027.