ANNAPOLIS, MD. — MedStar Medical Group has signed a 19,739-square-foot lease at a medical office building (MOB) located at 810 Bestgate Road in Annapolis, roughly 30 miles outside of Baltimore. The new lease marks an expansion of the healthcare network’s presence at the property, which totals 100,000 square feet across four stories. MedStar now occupies 31,000 square feet at the building, which is fully leased. Stephanie Caronna represented the landlord, St. John Properties, in the lease negotiations on an internal basis. Paige Wingate and Matt Sullivan of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant. MedStar plans to open a surgery center at the property in March 2024.
Maryland
PGIM Provides $188M Refinancing for Multifamily Portfolio in Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland
by John Nelson
SILVER SPRING, MD. — PGIM Real Estate has provided a $188 million loan for a five-property multifamily portfolio in downtown Silver Spring. The borrower, Tower Cos., is using the fixed-rate loan to refinance The Blairs, a 1,396-unit portfolio that comprises The Pearl, Blair Towns, Blair House, Blair East and Blair Plaza. The five properties are situated within a master-planned community that Tower Cos. owns. In 2012, The Blairs was the first multifamily residential campus to receive the LEED Gold certification for operations and maintenance, according to PGIM.
TSB Realty Brokers Sale of 328-Bed Student Housing Community Near Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore
by John Nelson
BALTIMORE — TSB Realty has brokered the sale of The Academy on Charles, a 328-bed student housing community located adjacent to the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore. Randall Calvert of TSB Realty arranged the disposition from GMH Communities to an undisclosed buyer. The luxury property was originally built in the early 1930s and renovated and converted into student housing in 2014. The community offers fully furnished units alongside shared amenities including a rooftop terrace, fitness center, games center, garage and surface parking and private and group study lounges. The community is fully leased for the 2023-2024 academic year.
BALTIMORE — Restaurateur Pinky Cole will open two food-and-beverage concepts, Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan, at Baltimore Peninsula, a $5 billion mixed-use redevelopment project currently underway in Baltimore. Scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2024, the plant-based restaurants are expected to create more than 100 new jobs. The 14 million-square-foot, 235-acre Baltimore Peninsula development also features a four-acre sports venue, ROOST Apartment Hotel and the Rye House and 250 Mission residential communities. The development and investment team for the project includes MAG Partners, MacFarlane Partners, Kevin Plank of Under Armour and his Sagamore Ventures investment firm and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Urban Investment Group. Additionally, Pinky Cole will join the development team for Baltimore Peninsula’s Rye Street Market component.
HYATTSVILLE, MD. — JLL has secured a $63 million refinancing for Vie Towers, a 910-bed student housing community located in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Hyattsville. The high-rise community serves students attending both Howard University and the University of Maryland. Doug Opalka, Dan Kearns, Jayme Nelson and Owen Claypool of JLL worked on behalf of the borrowers, Safanad and Vie Management, to secure the three-year, floating-rate loan through Värde Partners. Built in 2006 and renovated in 2019, the community offers a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom, fully furnished units with bed-to-bath parity. Shared amenities include a rooftop pool deck, modern fitness center, yoga studio and coworking and creative space.
HAGERSTOWN, MD. — Binswanger has arranged a lease at a 2.1 million-square-foot distribution facility currently underway in Hagerstown in northwest Maryland. Binswanger secured the 10-year lease on behalf of the tenant, Conair, a developer, manufacturer and marketer of health, beauty and kitchen products. Trammell Crow Co. is developing the property within its Mid-Atlantic Crossings industrial park. Originally planned as two separate facilities at 10440 Downsville Pike and 17250 Sterling Road, the warehouse will now be developed and operated as a single, contiguous building.
GAITHERSBURG, MD. — KLNB has negotiated the sale of two apartment communities in Gaithersburg totaling 194 units. The properties include Towne Crest and Chelsea Park. Acento Real Estate Partners purchased both communities from the undisclosed sellers. The sales prices were also not disclosed. Acento plans to make renovations to both properties and add amenities. Rawles Wilcox, Jared Emery and Dutch Seitz of KLNB represented the sellers in both transactions.
SILVER SPRING, MD. — Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) has acquired Falkland Chase, a 170-unit apartment community in Silver Spring, just north of Washington, D.C. JBG Smith sold the property for an undisclosed price. APAH plans to redevelop the property and create 1,250 new units in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. Most of the new apartments will be reserved for residents earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). Partners on the project include The Housing Partnership Fund, Woodforest National Bank and the National Housing Trust Community Development fund.
Lee & Associates Negotiates Two Leases at New Heights Industrial Park in Hagerstown, Maryland Totaling 58,750 SF
by John Nelson
HAGERSTOWN, MD. — Lee & Associates has negotiated two leases at New Heights Industrial Park in Hagerstown totaling 58,750 square feet. The 900,000-square-foot industrial park is located at 18450 Showalter Road, less than one mile from Hagerstown Regional Airport and I-81. The new tenants joining New Heights include Tomu Inc., a prefabricated modular buildings system user that is leasing 15,000 square feet, and Pycube, a Virginia-based healthcare asset management firm that is leasing 43,750 square feet. Joel Kreider and Ed Skonecki of Lee & Associates represented the landlord, a joint venture between Bluestone Group and The Langer Co., in both lease transactions. With this leasing activity, the project is approximately 82 percent leased.
COLLEGE PARK, MD. — Core Spaces has opened Hub College Park, a 475-bed student housing community located near the University of Maryland campus in College Park. The 239,542-square-foot property offers 161 fully furnished units in studio through five-bedroom configurations. Shared amenities include a fitness center, spa and sauna, coworking spaces, private study lounges, rooftop swimming pool and a coffee shop. Studio K Creative designed the interior of the property alongside Core’s in-house design team. Antunovich Associates served as the architect and Treehouse Builders was the general contractor for the development. Core’s in-house management team is managing the community, which opened ahead of the 2023-2024 academic year.