Deal of the Week: Coffee Roaster Finds a Gem in Auto Transmission Shop
When coffee shop owner David Fogel went looking for space to expand his roasting capacity, he saw a gem in the making with a former auto transmission shop in Kensington, Maryland.
The owner of the Silver Spring coffee-and-vinyl-record shop Bump ‘n Grind then paid $894,000 for two attached buildings totaling 7,000 square feet.
He now plans to send the aroma of roasting coffee beans wafting down a stretch of road lined mostly by small industrial businesses.
“We will be roasting small batches of premium, environmentally and socially-conscious coffee from around the world,” Fogel said.
There are four different spaces within the two buildings, which sit in a row of similarly designed, 1950s-era industrial buildings. Fogel plans to convert the part the transmission shop occupied, and the existing tenants will continue to lease the other spaces until he needs to expand again.
Fogel, who has an urban planning and community development background, opened Bump ‘n Grind nearly five years ago in retail space at the bottom of an apartment tower. The shop features live music in addition to selling vinyl records and coffee.
He also sells the coffee wholesale and through retailers. Rockville’s Dawson’s Market, a natural foods grocery store, serves Bump ‘n Grind coffee, as does Red Bandana Bakery and the theater company Imagination Stage, both in Bethesda. Washington, D.C.'s The Brighton pub at the Wharf also serves the coffee. Fogel also has a few office clients.
Bump ‘n Grind’s new roasting operation could give the small industrial part of Kensington a needed jolt.
While Kensington is an affluent area, Larry Rosen, the listing broker and owner of Commercial & Investment Realty Associates in Bethesda, said that industrial stretch has been slow to turn over.
Some buildings have been converted to other uses — antiques stores, for example. But there are plenty of others that haven’t.
Rosen hopes the pace picks up, particularly once Bump ‘n Grind begins roasting coffee.
“That’s kind of a hidden gem back there,” Rosen said.
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