Filling vacant commercial real estate can prove to be a bit of a moving target, as businesses regularly come and go. The recent addition of Poke It Up to Ballston Quarter in Arlington, Virginia is one example of effective partnerships and Josh Kurstin was instrumental in the deal. Commercial real estate firm JLL’s Kurstin, who represented the University of Phoenix, says that the Hawaiian poké bowl eatery will be a popular part of the Arlington Square building located at 4401 N. Fairfax Drive. What’s more, “fast-casual” soup and sandwich shop Zoup! will accompany the new Hawaiian eatery so horizons are already looking brighter for the Ballston neighborhood.
According to a 2019 report from the Washington Business Journal, the deal inked earlier this year included efforts by H&R Retail, which represented the building’s landlord; Brookfield Property Partners; HUSB Commercial Real Estate Services, which represented Poké it Up and the aforementioned JLL/University of Phoenix party. “The last retail space available there was leased by University of Phoenix, which signed for 3,354 square feet at 4401 Fairfax,” according to the report. Josh Kurstin expects Poke It Up to be a hit among those living and working in Arlington’s Ballston area. In fact, this is the second Poke It Up location Arlington. ARLNow.com reported in Oct. 2019 that the first “dedicated poke eatery” opened “in the food court of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. It features a variety of seafood, vegetables, rice, and sauces, ordered Chipotle-style at a counter.”
Finding a tenant to move into the structure along N. Fairfax Drive required some legwork, thus representatives from the two new restaurants, the current landlord and two commercial real estate companies all had to come to the same table. Arlington Square offers on-site and reserved parking, security, a rooftop deck and more, according to Truss.co. It could be argued that these are desirable amenities and eatery looking to open there would be able to take advantage of the foot and vehicular traffic. This is the type of in-depth knowledge that someone in the competitive commercial real estate sector must exhibit — and it’s why Josh Kurstin has been able to lead such a successful career.
Arlington, Virginia has seen an uptick in population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which found an increase of about 30,000 residents between 2010 and 2018 to approximately 237,500. Given these statistics, it’s likely that additional restaurants will be a welcome addition during lunch breaks. Should that be the case, Josh Kurstin will be keeping tabs on the local economy and real estate leasing news to identify future opportunities.
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