Photo by Elizabeth Festa.
Altus Realty Partners submitted a letter of intent to bid on Friendship House this past Friday, according to Friendship House Association chair Ron Joiner.
The letter of intent gave the Arlington-based firm time to review the property before they move forward with a purchase, Joiner said.
Terry Hindermann, Principal at altus Realty said its review for possible purchase of Friendship House was “under study,” and to check back in a month. He acknowledged the property requires a lot of cleanup, and although altus looked at it a year and a half ago, they just came back to it recently after the previous two bidders fell through or bowed out.
Joiner noted the dates for organizing items such as televisions and computers and other hardware for sale to clear out Friendship House are Sat. Feb 6 and Sat. Feb 13th from 10:00 am till 2:00pm, for which community volunteers are requested. The unconfirmed date for sale of these items is Feb. 20, also a Saturday.
Friendship House is Zoned R-4, which permits matter-of-right development of single-family residential uses (including detached, semi-detached, row dwellings, and flats), churches and public schools with a minimum lot width of 18 feet, a minimum lot area of 1,800 square feet and a maximum lot occupancy of 60% for row dwellings, churches and flats.
Sonja Sweek was the highest bidder for the property back in September, offering $3.2 million, and wanted to provide daycare services, a primary care physician’s office and also make it an extended family residence. However, she was unable to fully package her finances within the 45 days required to close on the property, and the option to buy Friendship House then passed onto the next bidder, PETA, which finally declined to buy it.
There were originally six bidders on The Maples. The circa 1798 property, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was before a bankruptcy judge after the Friendship House organization vacated the property in 2008, after more than 70 years providing childcare and social services to families in need. It is now boarded up, and has multiple maintenance issues and will require costly repairs and renovations, especially since work must be in accordance with historic preservation guidelines.
The nonprofit DC Preservation League announced June 2 that the property, once owned by Francis Scott Key, has joined its 2009 “most endangered places.”