Cava to nearly double in size – The Montgomery Mediterranean food business started by childhood friends has become a powerhouse. Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos and Dimitri Moshovitis have turned their original Rockville restaurant into a $30 million a year business consisting of retail spreads sold at grocery stores as well as fast-casual and full-service restaurants in less than 10 years. Now they’re expanding even further, nearly doubling the size of their business with six new restaurants scheduled to open by early next year in D.C.’s Chinatown, the Kentlands in Gaithersburg, Montgomery Mall, Fairfax, Ashburn and Baltimore, according to The Washington Post. Bethesda Magazine previously covered the owners’ humble beginnings.
Landlord planning to reconstruct damaged Fresh Grill and Red Tomato buildings – Greenhill Capital, which owns the vacant Fresh Grill and Red Tomato buildings, plans to reconstruct the buildings at the site between Fairmont and St. Elmo avenues. Greenhill was awarded $3.2 million in damages after a judge ruled that construction at the neighboring Bainbridge apartment building damaged the Fresh Grill building. Greenhill is also involved in litigation now over damage at the Red Tomato building. The plan includes the addition of a 5,400-square-foot building behind the former Red Tomato building, according to a BethesdaNow report, which noted the development is partly dependent on the outcome of ongoing litigation.
Photo: The Fresh Grill building, left, has sat vacant due to structural problems. Credit: Andrew Metcalf
Bethesda House vacated – The men’s shelter on Cordell Avenue is gone. Local blogger Robert Dyer first reported that the Catholic Charities-operated homeless shelter was vacated over the weekend. While the shelter is moving to a new location in White Flint, there are plans to convert the shelter at 4848 Cordell Ave. into a restaurant/retail space. The property was last purchased in 2011 by White Flint Express Realty Group Limited, a subsidiary of Lenny Greenberg’s Greenhill Capital, for $212,000, according to Maryland property records.
Credit: Andrew Metcalf