The Steamers restaurant property is for sale—and the property on a desirable corner lot in Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle could fetch a high price.
Josh Feldman, the listing agent with the real estate firm Marcus & Millichap, said Friday the 8,300-square-foot lot could be developed under current zoning regulations into a much larger mixed-use residential and commercial building.
However, he said the owners have not set a price for the property, which is located at the corner of Norfolk and Auburn avenues.
“We want everyone to put their best foot forward without providing a number,” Feldman said.
The restaurant building on the property is comprised of two houses that have been “connected and jury-rigged together” over the years, according to Feldman. It housed the seafood restaurant for about 20 years, until the restaurant closed Aug. 14.
Feldman said the property’s owners are two families who live out of the area, including a person who grew up in one of the houses. He said they hope to take advantage of the hot real estate market in downtown Bethesda.
Feldman said the owners are also considering leasing the building, although he said it is “functionally obsolete at this point.”
The property is likely to attract interest as a tear-down project. If the existing building is demolished, a new one could be constructed at the site more in line with the surrounding architecture.
It’s possible a developer may even pursue a high-rise building, such as Gallery Bethesda that sits next to the Steamers lot. In order to construct a high-rise, a developer would have to buy air rights from smaller properties or cobble together the other properties on the block into one large lot. Those properties include the building that houses the Japanese restaurant Satsuma as well as the building owned by the Mexican restaurant Tia Queta.
Feldman said the owners are expected to set a date to start accepting formal offers on the property in the next week or so.