Maryland

BETHESDA, MD. — Development and investment firm Roadside Development and global alternative asset manager Hudson Bay Capital have acquired Bethesda Towers, an office campus situated in downtown Bethesda. The sales price was not disclosed, but the Washington Business Journal reports that the complex had an assessed property value of roughly $86 million, according to records with the State of Maryland. Moore & Associates sold the property and will continue to oversee property management on behalf of the new ownership. Moore & Associates acquired Bethesda Towers, which was originally built in the 1970s, in 2005.  Totaling roughly 600,000 square feet, the campus comprises three office buildings and is walkable to attractions including Bethesda Row, the Capital Crescent Trail and the Bethesda Metro Station. The buyers plan to reposition the development over time but did not release any specific plans.  “The Bethesda Towers campus presents a large-scale parcel with the potential to become a unique and transformative place at the gateway to Bethesda,” says Jeff Edelstein, president of Roadside. “We’ve had our eye on the property for quite some time, and it will be a great collaboration with our partners at Hudson Bay Capital.” Mychael Cohn of Cohn Property Group represented Roadside in the …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

MIDDLE RIVER, MD. — St. John Properties Inc. and Somerset Cos. LLC have broken ground on Aspen at Greenleigh, a $148 million luxury apartment development in Middle River. The 335-unit property will be situated within the 1,000-acre Greenleigh mixed-use community on the north side of Baltimore County. Set for completion in late 2027, Aspen at Greenleigh will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 599 to 1,669 square feet. Indoor amenities will include a fitness center with yoga studio, multimedia center with oversized viewing screen and adjacent kitchen and bar, a billiards room, business center with a conference area, a pet spa with wash station and an indoor dog park. Outdoor amenities will include a heated saltwater pool with sunning decks, hospitality bar, bike storage and repair room, Zen garden and a courtyard with cabanas, a fireplace and a TV. The design-build team, which is pursuing LEED Gold certification for the development, includes Architects Collaborative (architect), Aumen Asner Inc. (interior design), KTGY (architect), Kline Engineering (structural engineer), Phillips Gradick (MEP engineer) and Stahly Engineering & Associates (civil engineer). St. John Properties’ multifamily construction division is serving as the project’s general contractor. Bozzuto Management will provide property …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Mirroring conditions nationally due to elevated interest rates, associated higher construction costs and general economic and geopolitical uncertainties, the volume of retail leasing and new development activity remains “slow and steady” in the greater Baltimore metropolitan region.  The collective business and real estate communities remain optimistic for a rebound later this year, given the robust fundamentals that remain constant locally and the lessons learned during a tepid first-quarter 2025, which was followed by an over-performing remainder of the year. We expect the same to occur in 2026, with robust third and fourth quarters on the horizon later this year. Interest rate complexities  Although interest rates have declined somewhat over the past year, the continued elevated climate has made all phases of the retail industry more expensive and forced developers and retailers to take a brief pause or to dig deeper for projected returns. More specifically, this has placed a halt on the future development of several new shopping centers in the Baltimore area due to higher financing costs, and multiple local retailers are also rethinking expansion plans because of steeper Small Business Administration and local banking loans.  Separate retail centers in Harford and Howard counties — after being designed and …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

FREDERICK, MD. — The Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC) has closed a $43 million loan for the development of the Marriott Downtown Frederick at Carroll Creek, a 204-room hotel underway in downtown Frederick. The Maryland Property Assessed Clean Energy (MDPACE) transaction represents the largest C-PACE loan in Maryland to date, according to MCEC, which is the administrator of the MDPACE program. Nuveen Green Capital provided the 30-year, fixed-rate financing on behalf of the locally based developer, Plamondon Hospitality Partners. The C-PACE financing will fund sustainable initiatives at the property including advanced insulation, roofing, windows, HVAC systems, LED lighting, low-flow water fixtures and hot water systems. The Marriott Downtown Frederick at Carroll Creek will be situated on 2.2 acres at 20 S. Carroll St. and feature more than 20,000 square feet of conference and event space, including a rooftop terrace and flexible indoor-outdoor venues. The hotel will also have two restaurants (one creekside and one rooftop bar and restaurant), a lobby bar and a coffee shop and market. The hotel’s target opening date was not released.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

ALEXANDRIA, VA. AND NORTH BETHESDA, MD. — Chiron Real Estate has entered into purchase agreements to acquire three senior living communities in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. Chiron is acquiring the properties from affiliates of Silverstone Senior Living for an aggregate price of $425 million. The acquisitions mark the REIT’s first entry into the seniors housing sector. Chiron entered into purchase agreements to acquire The Landing Alexandria and The Riviera at Alexandria on May 1 for a total price of $249 million. On May 6, the company entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Pinnacle North Bethesda for roughly $176 million. The Landing Alexandria opened in April 2022 and totals 163 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. As of April 2026, the community was 90 percent occupied. The Riviera Alexandria opened in March of this year. Totaling 129 luxury independent living apartments across 183,000 square feet, the property was roughly 20 percent leased as of April. Pinnacle North Bethesda is currently under development and is scheduled to open in October 2026. Upon completion, the 175-unit community will feature 88 independent living units, 59 assisted living units and 28 memory care units. The property was approximately 30 percent preleased …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Westphalia-Town-Center

UPPER MARLBORO, MD. — Walton Global has signed Sprouts Farmers Market to anchor a 140,000-square-foot retail development under construction in Upper Marlboro, about 21 miles outside of Washington, D.C. Situated within the 480-acre master-planned community of Westphalia Town Center, Sprouts Farmers Market will occupy roughly 23,000 square feet. The store is currently anticipated to open in the second half of 2028. Upon completion, the overall Westphalia Town Center will include residential neighborhoods, retail and dining, as well as community services. Heritage Partners is handling leasing for the retail component of the project.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Baltimore’s industrial market entered the first quarter of 2026 in what some are describing as a correctional rather than a contractional phase, with CoStar Group recently characterizing the market as undergoing a “sharp correction” driven by rising vacancy, elevated supply and slower leasing activity.  Vacancy reports vary but the rate is hovering at approximately 9.7 percent as leasing teams worked to absorb approximately 3.2 million square feet of new deliveries over the past 12 months. Trailing absorption is negative at approximately 2.4 million square feet, reflecting a slowdown rather than a disappearance of demand, according to CoStar. New development pipelines remain active at 2.1 million square feet and new starts are moderating, signaling that developers are adjusting to conditions. In recent years, a series of events in Baltimore City made headlines and positioned the region in the worst possible way, and “Charm City” remains misunderstood in the minds of outsiders through the lens of these news articles. But, earlier this year, a substantial influx of institutional capital turned heads when making a decisive bet on the greater metropolitan area.  A joint venture between Camber Real Estate Partners and PGIM Real Estate acquired a seven-building infill industrial portfolio at a 5.75 …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

BALTIMORE AND HILLARD, OHIO — Continental Realty Corp. has purchased a 14-property shopping center portfolio spread across seven states in the Southeast and Midwest. The Baltimore-based firm purchased the more than 2 million-square-foot portfolio from Hillard-based US Properties Group Inc. for an undisclosed price. Chris Decoufle and Kevin Hurley of CBRE represented the seller in the off-market transaction. The acquisition grows Continental Realty’s holdings to nearly $5 billion in assets under management and expands its geographic footprint to 16 states, including its entry into Ohio. The portfolio was 93 percent leased at the time of sale to more than 230 tenants, including anchors such as Kroger and Academy Sports + Outdoors. The assets in the portfolio include:

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Annapolis-Mall

ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Centennial, along with investment partners Kildare Partners and Atlas Hill Real Estate, has sold Annapolis Mall. Macerich (NYSE: MAC) acquired the 1.6 million-square-foot retail center for $260 million. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based REIT also purchased an adjacent, vacant parcel that was formerly occupied by Sears for an additional $12 million.  Centennial acquired Annapolis Mall, which is located roughly 30 miles east of Washington, D.C., in September 2024. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) previously owned the property and reported the 2024 sales price as $160 million.  Originally opened in 1980, the mall comprises approximately 200 shops and restaurants. During Centennial’s ownership, more than 500,000 square feet of new leases and lease renewals were executed. New tenants at the property include Dick’s House of Sport, UNIQLO, Offline by Aerie, Tesla, Swarovski, Jack & Jones, Abercrombie & Fitch and Dave & Buster’s. Existing tenants Talbots and lululemon also expanded their footprint at the mall following Centennial’s acquisition.  According to Macerich, 353,000 square feet of signed-not-open (SNO) leases are expected to commence throughout the remainder of 2026 and 2027.  Macerich funded the acquisition with cash on hand and $150 million from its revolving line of credit. The acquisition excluded a space occupied by anchor store Macy’s, which …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

GAITHERSBURG, MD. — WRS Inc., a retail and mixed-use development firm based in Charleston, S.C., has broken ground on the $1.2 billion redevelopment of Lakeforest Mall, a 102-acre shopping mall in Gaithersburg that shuttered in 2023. Situated in the northern arch of the Washington, D.C., suburbs, the multi-phase project will transform 1.1 million square feet of obsolete retail space and parking lots into a walkable “mini-city” that will be master-planned on a grid of walkable streets and public amenities. “This is more than just a construction project; it is the rebirth of a community anchor,” says Kevin Rogers, principal of WRS. “We are proud to deliver a project that honors the legacy of Lakeforest while looking firmly toward the future of Gaithersburg.” Hallmarks of the new mixed-use village will include: Phase I of the redevelopment’s infrastructure, which comprises demolition of the mall, installation of storm drain systems and establishment of road networks on the site, is now underway. WRS plans to begin vertical construction on the first residential and retail blocks of the development shortly after these initiatives are complete. WRS began purchasing Lakeforest Mall beginning in 2019. In 2022, the firm obtained acquisition and construction financing from PCCP for the …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Newer Posts