Sidwell Friends School has brought its downtown Bethesda lower school campus to market, hiring Cushman & Wakefield to handle the sale of the property at 5100 Edgemoor Lane. The private co-educational institution, which maintains campuses in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, is marketing the site while it continues to operate its broader network of educational facilities in the region.
The campus is located near the Bethesda Metro Station and comprises five buildings totaling approximately 55,000 square feet. The existing improvements provide educational, athletic and administrative space, including classrooms and instructional areas, a gymnasium, a library, and dining and assembly areas. The combination of multiple buildings and program types positions the campus as a purpose-built setting for school or institutional users.
Cushman & Wakefield professionals Shaun Weinberg and Bill Collins have been engaged to market the offering, according to reporting from the Washington Business Journal. The assignment covers both the ongoing sale process and evaluation of potential redevelopment scenarios, reflecting buyer interest that could range from continued educational use to alternative strategies. Sidwell Friends is seeking to capitalize on the property’s location and existing improvements while leaving open the possibility of new investment approaches for the site.
According to Maryland assessment records, the 5.5-acre campus was valued at just over $8 million as of January. While the property is being primarily marketed to schools and other institutional organizations, residential development opportunities are noted as a possibility, subject to land use constraints. The site is currently zoned for single-family residential use, which means that any denser redevelopment would require a rezoning process and associated approvals.
The Bethesda property joins Sidwell Friends School’s broader real estate footprint, which also includes a campus at 3825 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Washington, D.C. By formally listing the downtown Bethesda lower school campus and engaging a national brokerage platform, the school is testing investor and user demand for a well-located, institutional-scale site in a transit-accessible part of the market.
Potential buyers will be evaluating both the in-place educational improvements and the underlying land value in light of the current zoning and any future entitlement work that might be needed to support a change of use or higher-density development. The outcome of the process will help clarify how institutional campuses in similar locations may be priced and repositioned as market participants weigh educational, residential and other potential uses.
