Federal Realty sells Barcroft Plaza
Federal Realty Investment Trust has sold Barcroft Plaza to a joint venture of Bain Capital Real Estate and 11North Partners, the Washington Business Journal reported on May 28.
The sales price was $58,025,000, according to Fairfax County tax records. Federal Realty acquired the property in 2006 for $25.1 million.
The shopping center, at 6345 Columbia Pike, was built in the early 1960s.
There are 27 tenants, including Harris Teeter, Glory Days Grill, Aqua Tots Swim Schools, OrangeTheory Fitness, Starbucks, Chay Restaurant, Jake’s Ice Cream, Honeygrow, Taco Zocalo, and Playful Pack.
A fire at Barcroft Plaza on Jan. 1, 2026, destroyed UMS Martial Arts. They have temporarily relocated to a vacant storefront in the shopping center until their original space is restored.
A press release from Bain Capital and 11North says the purchase of Barcroft Plaza is one of five open-air retail centers purchased by the joint venture in a $300 million deal. The others are in California, Florida, and Texas.
“Open-air, grocery-anchored retail continues to demonstrate some of the most compelling risk-adjusted fundamentals in the real estate landscape. We are acquiring high-quality, irreplaceable assets in undersupplied markets at a basis that would be structurally difficult to replicate,” said Brian Harper, 11North’s founder and managing partner.
“Barcroft Plaza is a great property and has served us well for many years,” Barry Carty, Federal Realty’s senior vice president of East Coast acquisitions, told the Washington Business Journal.
“The strong investor demand for high-quality retail in this market gave us an attractive opportunity to recycle capital,” Carty said. The proceeds will support the company’s existing portfolio and expansion into new markets.
Related story: After a fire destroyed UMS Martial Arts, it resurfaced in the same retail strip
Barcroft plaza is a gem for having multiple, high quality small businesses (Jake’s, chays, mqr). I’m hopeful the new owners don’t jack up the rent on them but I’m not holding my breath…
Exactly! This is the best shopping center in the area; there is no need to fix what isn’t broken.
Hey, Corporate Overlords! Don’t eff it up.
LOL! Just wait until they want to turn the place into the monstrosity that is taking place in the old KMart shopping center!
Yikes ! Your right ! That thought never crossed my mind my mind .! 😱That’s what a lot of these sales of strip malls are doing .Tearing them down and turning them into huge apt complexes and condos . Oh , I hope not . Can’t imagine when they finish in Annandale what a traffic mess that will be.
What is so bad about adding housing? Annandale is stuck in the 50’s with it’s single story lots with huge ugly parking lots in the front. They are not pretty, walkable, or friendly. Adding a few flower pots doesn’t make something pretty. Tearing down these remnants of an era 70 years ago and replacing them with livable, walkable, tree lined spaces with parking lots in the back where they should have been to begin with will make all of Annandale more like a real town with an identity instead of the urban sprawl commuter space it exhibits.
LOL!! You think adding housing where there aren’t already enough accommodations (like schools and roads that aren’t already jam-packed) isn’t urban sprawl?
Get out of here. Literally–you actually want a city life, so move.
No, she doesn’t want what you said. She wants real estate appreciation via beautification of the area and making it more appealing to buyers while at the same time adding the infrastructure (and not parks). Enlarge our thinking. There are more options than your thought.
Also what I’ve loved about this center is the beautiful large potted plants all along the center . So beautiful ! Especially in summer hibiscus plants etc. I so hope the new owners will upkeep like the last . Makes the whole shopping experience joyful .
yes, I have always noticed their lovely flowers as well!
This is a lovely oasis of silence with a Starbucks and a Dominoes pizza, and provides the only safe, quiet pedestrian alternative to the teeming traffic of Landmark Plaza mall (worth the walk). If they added shaded patio seating, some pet areas, and a soft-serve kiosk alongside the vegetarian restaurants, it would be the loveliest place around, unique, and stylish!
There is *excellent* ice cream and more available at Jake’s–and they have shaded seating!
https://www.sweetjakesicecream.com/
You said it Erika! I agree–Fingers Crossed!
As someone who live in Annandale and work in DC, I’ve seen how these “affordable housing” with parks etc has been empty housing ripe for criminals. The rent is too high for students and low income families, the criteria for renting for low income families is ridiculous. My office sits across a brand new development and the apartment manager has been asking me to spread the word to my college students as she needs to fill 10 (out of 15) units. This is what I fear with the new development by Kmart. Sure we all want the area to be beautiful, if it’s not going to serve its purpose, they should have left it the way it is.
Would love the traditional aesthetic and function of having homes above shops, and a free gathering space in the front, w/parking in the back. It keeps a whole area active and walkable all day, so there are no “dead zones”.
We need more public spaces where folks can gather, chill, enjoy life and relax.
Long ago, each village had a village green & bandstand next to the general store or shops. It’s like that still in most towns in the world, and in nearby Takoma Park, MD’s suburban area.
Nearby Eden center has created a similar welcoming space just with their parking lot on weekends, as has the community center in Annandale–all walkable from the local neighborhoods.
The key is the central relaxing space.