King Farm Village in Rockville, Maryland is  being leased by Divaris Real Estate

Creativity is Hallmark of Divaris' Rockville Office

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND:  2003 was a good year for the Rockville office of Divaris Real Estate, Inc., according to Alan Luger, principal of the office.  “One of the hallmarks of this office is our ability to find creative solutions to make things happen, and to stir things up in this region.   We are working on the amazing Rock Spring Centre development and, so far, we have dealt with the intricacies of the situation and shown the creativity that has become one of our hallmarks. There are no obstacles, only opportunities.”

One example of seeing the "big picture" of opportunities are the deals DRE’s Garrett Bauman completed with The Room Store in Catonsville, Maryland.  After securing a new location for the home furnishings retailer, he then put Pier 1 into the space previously occupied by The Room Store, about a quarter of a mile away.   Now Bauman is looking to put a new tenant into the space vacated by Pier 1, thereby locating three tenants' requirements in one area. 

The Room Store has leased a space that was vacant for four years in an old 38,296-square-foot F& M store in 40 West Plaza located at 6501 Baltimore National Pike in Catonsville.  Bauman of the Rockville office and Debbie Wake of DRE’s Richmond office represented The Room Store in the lease negotiations.   DRE is the exclusive tenant representative for The Room Store in Virginia.  The Room Store is a national retailer, operating 60 locations across Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. 

Pier 1 Imports moved into the 12,634-square-foot store that was vacated by The Room Store in the One Mile West Shopping Center, located on Route 40 in Catonsville. The previous Pier 1 store, comprising 10,000 square feet, was situated on Rolling Road, approximately one-half mile away.  The new store is on a primary road, on the end-cap of the newly renovated One Mile West Shopping Center.  Bauman represented the tenant in the negotiations.  Pier 1 began in 1962 in San Mateo, California and today is North America’s leading specialty home fashions retailer, with more than 1,000 stores worldwide.

A long-time tenant rep client of the Rockville office of DRE, Fitness First is also benefiting from the versatility of the commercial real estate firm.   Divaris is assisting with the expansion of Fitness First into the Florida market.   Fitness First purchased one unit in Florida and worked with Divaris and Synergy Retail Properties of Boca Raton to identify and secure two additional deals.  Fitness First already has a significant presence in the Northern Virginia/Maryland/Washington, DC area.  The fitness facility is looking for a fourth property in Florida.

Fitness First leased 15,000 square feet of retail space in Lakeside Centre in Boca Raton, Florida.  Other tenants in the property include Marshalls and Off Broadway Shoes. This is the third Fitness First location in Florida.  Luger, along with Lisa Witcher of Synergy Retail Group, represented the tenant in the negotiations. 

Peter Harvey founded Fitness First in 1991. The company is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland and now operates 18 locations in Maryland, Virginia, Florida and the District of Columbia.  Fitness First is the largest Maryland-based chain of health clubs, serving approximately 30,000 members. 

In 2001, Divaris formed a strategic alliance between its firm and Synergy Retail Group to provide brokerage and property management services in South Florida.  Synergy was established in 1997 in Boca Raton, to focus on both retail tenant and landlord representation and marketing research for shopping centers in Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties.

Creativity is displayed in DRE’s landlord representation assignments as well.  As a result of working on Rock Spring Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, Luger asked the developer if he could help with the leasing of any of their other shopping center projects.  As a result, Divaris was given the assignment to lease King Farm Center in the densely populated suburb of Rockville, Maryland. 

The 118,651-square-foot King Farm Village Center is located in the heart of the 430-acre King Farm – a mixed-use community containing residential, retail and 3 million square feet of office space.   The center has excellent accessibility from I-270, I-370, Shady Grove Road, Route 355, Gude Drive and Redland Boulevard.    It is also metro accessible via King Farm shuttle bus or Ride on Bus.   Additionally, the center is within walking distance of the entire King Farm community.   There is 10.5 million square feet of office and flex space within a three-mile radius of the Village Center.

Melissa Divaris completed four deals at King Farm in 2003, and the increased activity has been well received.  It was Divaris’ objective to secure only the best tenants to be included in the very attractive suburban neighborhood center.   One lease was signed with Kick’s Karate for 1,902 square feet, joining Safeway, Baja Fresh and Maggie Moos in King Farm Village shopping center.

Ali Mukhi has leased 1,226 square feet of retail space for his fifth exclusive Verizon store. He also operates other cell phone stores which provide service from other carriers.  Another lease was completed with Iris Ehrman, doing business as Fabric Friends, for 1,040 square feet of retail space.  This is the second location for Fabric Friends, an upscale doll, collectible and gift store. 

San Souci Plaza, a 246,788-square-foot shopping center, is another Divaris assignment.   It is anchored by Shopper’s Food Warehouse, Fashion Bug and JoAnn Fabrics.  Owner Mark Reinisch of Chicago-based Rushmore Properties bought the property because of the opportunity for repositioning that it represented. 

Since receiving the assignment to lease and manage San Souci, Divaris has already completed re-roofing and re-landscaping the property and DRE’s Susan McGee and Earl Goodman are working on three large leases that will take up 30,000 square feet of vacant space. 

“When we acquired the assignment, the vacancy at San Souci Plaza was 20 percent.  By summer 2004, we expect to have the vacancy down to less than 5 percent,” says Earl Goodman, principal of the Rockville office of Divaris Real Estate, Inc.

DRE completes re-roofing and  re-landscaping in San Souci Plaza.

San Souci Plaza is well-positioned in a hot market area.  It is situated at the intersection of Route 235 and MacArthur Boulevard in California, Maryland.  There are 125,000 people residing within the trade area and the traffic count at the site is 49,000 cars per day.  It is in the St. Mary’s retail corridor, one quarter mile from the Naval Air Station that draws 300,000 visitors annually. The population growth in St. Mary’s County is 13 percent and in nearby Calvert County there has been an astounding 45 percent population growth. 

“Shopper’s Food Warehouse has been very cooperative with us.  They had a number of restrictive covenants to their lease and they worked with us to eliminate those covenants so we could go ahead with several very exciting new tenants,” says Goodman.