An eight-story office building that was condemned in downtown Silver Spring last month has been sold.
Washington, D.C.-based Moonlight Inc. purchased 850 Sligo Ave. for $4.25 million from Tran Group, the building’s owner, in a deal completed in April, according to real estate broker Hanna Negussie, who handled the sale. She said Wednesday Moonlight received the deed for the property earlier this week.
Negussie said Moonlight plans to renovate the building to include at least 30 apartments and possibly ground-floor retail space. She said the owners plan to clean up the unkempt property soon.
“They’re well-invested and certainly care,” Negussie said, adding the firm is working with an architect and zoning attorney to bring its plans to fruition.
Montgomery Newsletter, a subscription-only email real estate news service, first reported the building had been sold.
The former office building was condemned April 19 by Montgomery County inspectors. At that time, the building had broken windows, graffiti on the lower level and trash strewn about the parking lot.
The county declared it a “public nuisance” and threatened to fine the property owner $500 daily if issues at the vacant structure weren’t corrected by May 19. On Wednesday afternoon, the building looked to be in similar shape and there was no visible renovation work occurring, but the trash in the parking lot had been cleaned up.
Tran Group, a Baltimore-based hotelier, had previously purchased the building in 2013 for $2.8 million, according to state real estate records.
Negussie said Tran Group had gutted the building with the intent to turn it into a hotel, but decided to sell it in order to focus on other properties the company owns. The building had been vacant for more than a year.
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The building at 850 Sligo Ave. in Silver Spring. Credit: Andrew Metcalf