Plans for Hyattsville-based Sangfroid Distilling to transform a historic bank property in Takoma Park into a distillery and cocktail bar are finally moving forward.
Sangfroid purchased the three-story Takoma Park Bank Building at 6950 Carroll Ave. in 2023 for $1.75 million in an off-market sale. Hannah McCann of Go Brent Realty represented the buyer.
In 2023, the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission approved Sangfroid’s conversion of the existing bank into a production facility and cocktail bar, designed by D.C.-based CORE architecture + design.
Applications for converting and expanding the 16,822-square-foot property were filed last August, and earlier this month, the county’s Department of Permitting Services issued a Commercial Building permit valued at over $642,000.
“Holy shit, we finally got it,” Sangfroid Distilling said on Instagram on January 7, the day that the permit was issued. “[The] permit came through today from Montgomery County to build out our expanded location in TKPK. Things are happening, folks.”
With the property purchase and construction, Sangfroid Distilling will establish its local distillery in Jeff Harner’s hometown. Co-owner Nate Groenendyk lives in Hyattsville, where the company has a 1,200-square-foot storefront since 2017.
Sangfroid was attracted to the Takoma Park location due to a zoning overlay that permits artisan manufacturing.
Sangfroid’s 16-foot copper still and stainless steel tanks will be showcased in the historic landmark bank property’s tall windows and 27-foot-high atrium, forming a beacon at Takoma Park’s commercial district entrance.
The property operated as a Bank of America until 2021.
“We’ve been looking to expand our distilling operations since the day we opened, and Hannah was able to find us a unicorn property that all had all the existing infrastructure in an incredible location,” Harner said to the Source in 2023. “We’re excited to be able to give this historically significant property new life.”
The MoCo Show and Maryland Newsletters first reported on Sangfroid Distilling’s permit approval.
Source File Photo by Jesse Kirsch