CAPITOL HEIGHTS, MD. — Newmark has arranged the $20.4 million sale of a distribution facility located at 8700 Ritchie Drive in Capitol Heights. The property, which comprises 103,193 square feet, was fully leased to HD Supply, REW Materials and The General Services Administration (GSA) at the time of sale. Cris Abramson, Ben McCarty and Nicholas Signor of Newmark represented the seller, a joint venture between The Pinkard Group and Principal Asset Management, in the transaction. LBA Realty acquired the property.
ABERDEEN, MD. — A joint venture between MCB Real Estate LLC, Artemis Real Estate Partners and principals of Ace Logistics Services Inc. has acquired Tower Logistics Center, an 859,900-square-foot warehouse at 1225 S. Philadelphia Road in Aberdeen. The facility, which will be rebranded Ace Logistics Center, is situated on 98.5 acres in Baltimore’s I-95 North submarket. The seller is a partnership between Merritt Properties and BentallGreenOak, which developed the property in 2021. Benjamin Meisels and Peter Hajimihalis of JLL represented the buyer and Ace Logistics in the lease deal. Bo Cashman and Jonathan Beard of CBRE represented the seller. Ace Logistics Center features clear heights of 40 feet, 189 cross docks, four drive-in doors, 310 trailer parking spaces and 130-foot truck court depths. Ace Logistics Services has signed a long-term lease for the building and expects to begin operations later this month. The firm provides cargo handling, warehousing and logistical services and currently operates eight facilities totaling 1.4 million square feet of space, as well as six outside storage/drop yards, all close to the Port of Baltimore.
BALTIMORE — A group led by Byrnes & Associates Inc. has purchased Hotel RL Baltimore Inner Harbor located at 207 E. Redwood St. in downtown Baltimore. The locally based investment firm will lead the $18.5 million redevelopment strategy that will convert the 10-story hotel into a 130-unit apartment building. The units will comprise studios, “junior one-bedroom” and one-bedroom apartments spanning 400 to 800 square feet with modern furnishings. Byrnes & Associates expects to redevelop the building, which was first developed as an office building, and lease the units in 18 months. The development team includes Brad Byrnes and Kemp Byrnes of Byrnes & Associates; investors Jay Litke and Moe Krohn of Kove Group LLC who will be the general contractors performing all construction activities; and investor/asset manager Brendan Ferrara of Carm Capital LLC. Byrnes & Associates previously purchased and redeveloped the adjacent 225 and 233 E. Redwood St. buildings, which comprise a total of 90,000 square feet of office and retail space, including the reopening and rebranding of the historic Werner’s Diner & Pub.
HUNT VALLEY, MD. — St. John Properties has purchased a 17-acre parcel at the corner of York Road and Wight Avenue in Hunt Valley, about 18 miles north of Baltimore. The locally based developer purchased the land from Noxema for an undisclosed price. Jay Wellschlager of JLL represented the seller in the transaction, and Sean Doordan and Alex Lyons represented St. John Properties internally. On the site, St. John Properties plans to build Hunt Valley Exchange, a 110,000-square-foot mixed-use complex that will feature flex and research-and-development buildings, inline shops and restaurants and retail pad sites. Construction is expected to commence immediately.
JESSUP, MD. — TPC Racing, a Porsche maintenance and service provider, has broken ground on its 40,000-square-foot industrial facility at 7869 Dorsey Run Road in Jessup. The Howard County facility will serve as the company’s corporate headquarters. Kate Jordan and Marley Welsh of Lee & Associates l Maryland brokered the purchase of the four-acre site and were also retained by TPC Racing to lease the available 27,000 square feet of industrial/warehouse space at the building. The $8 million, single-story project is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter and comprise nine bays, each offering 3,000 square feet of space. Chesapeake Contracting Group is acting as general contractor for the project.
BEL AIR, MD. — Park Avenue Lifestyle has purchased a site within James Run, a mixed-use development underway in the Baltimore suburb of Bel Air, from master developer JEN Partners, a real estate private equity fund based in New York. The Orlando-based buyer plans to develop a $70 million seniors housing community on the site that will feature independent living, assisted living and memory care units, as well as a fitness center, outdoor courtyards, walking paths and an in-house restaurant and pub. At full build-out, which is anticipated for 2025, James Run will comprise this seniors housing property; 190 age-targeted villas and 80 townhomes; the 304-unit James Run Apartments; more than 57,000 square feet of retail space, including boutique shops, sit-down, fast-casual and quick-service restaurants; 20,000 square feet of office and medical office space; and a 125-room hotel and conference center. The development is approximately 50 percent complete, according to JEN Partners. Committed tenants include Starbucks, Kiddie Academy, Royal Farms gas station and convenience store, two unnamed Italian and steakhouse restaurants and a freestanding wine store. Baltimore-based Craftsmen Cos. is the development manager for James Run, and MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services is the project’s leasing brokerage firm.
GAITHERSBURG, MD. — WRS Real Estate Investments, a retail and mixed-use owner-operator based in Mount Pleasant, S.C., has successfully rezoned a 100-acre site in Gaithersburg that houses Lakeforest Mall. The Gaithersburg City Council approved the rezoning of the site to mixed-use in a 5-0 vote and also approved the sketch plan of the future development. Gensler has been engaged to lead the creation of overall design guidelines for the project. WRS purchased the core of the 1.1 million-square-foot regional mall in 2019. On a single day in 2022, the developer purchased the mall’s remaining department stores: J.C. Penney, Lord & Taylor, Sears and Macy’s. The plan calls for WRS to redevelop Lakeforest Mall as a mixed-use village comprising up to 1,600 new residential units — a mix of for-sale and rental units — and up to 1.25 million square feet of commercial uses such as retail, restaurant, dining, hospitality and life sciences. Construction may commence as early as 2024, according to WRS.
BETHESDA, MD. — JBG Smith, the developer behind Amazon’s HQ2 campus in Arlington, Va., has sold an 80 percent stake for its corporate headquarters at 4747 Bethesda Ave. in Bethesda. An undisclosed investor purchased the interest for $196 million, according to several media outlets. Built in 2019, the LEED Gold-certified building spans 300,508 square feet and was 98 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including JBG Smith. The property, which is located adjacent to the popular Bethesda Row destination, features a rooftop lounge, modern fitness facility and a penthouse conference room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Jim Meisel, Matt Nicholson, Andrew Weir, Dave Baker and Kevin Byrd of JLL represented JBG Smith in the transaction.
BALTIMORE — MCB Real Estate has broken ground on Flats at the Markley, a 146-unit student housing development in the Beverly Hills neighborhood of northeast Baltimore. Situated along Harford Road, the off-campus property will serve students attending nearby Morgan State University. MCB says the five-story development will feature apartments with in-unit washers and dryers, study rooms, game rooms, onsite parking and an outdoor courtyard. MCB expects to complete Flats at the Markley in summer 2025.
ELKTON, MD. — Electric bikes manufacturer and distributor Metalrays LLC has signed a 109,192-square-foot lease in Elkton. The space is located within 1003 Konica Drive, a single-story warehouse/industrial and office building spanning 263,000 square feet. Metalrays’ tenancy brings the building, which features 36-foot ceiling heights, 27 loading docks and two drive-in docks and 150 parking spaces, to roughly 40 percent occupancy. Ned Brady and Eric Skogmo of Lee & Associates|Maryland represented Metalrays in the lease negotiations, and Michael McConnell represented the landlord, McConnell Development, on an internal basis.