As real estate becomes more operational, a trend has emerged of major investors migrating away from big metros into secondary and tertiary markets. Occasionally, those markets move out of the shadows of their larger neighbors and acquire their own identity. Enter Columbia, Maryland, which initially attained national attention and acclaim as one of the first master-planned communities in the United States. Columbia is now in the midst of a major transformation. Built from the ground up in then-bucolic Howard County, Columbia was founded by developer James Rouse in 1967. Strategically located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the now 53-year-old community is blossoming with its own talent creators, talent attractors and 14 million square feet of new live-work-play development in a downtown transformed by The Howard Hughes Corp., a successor to The Rouse Co. The beginnings of Downtown Columbia’s emergence include the Merriweather District, which opens this spring. The first of three neighborhoods planned for downtown Columbia, the Merriweather District is being developed as a regional hub of culture and commerce. Talent creators The Howard County market is already home to cybersecurity incubators and cyber-focused venture capitalists like DataTribe and AllegisCyber. These companies consistently house and fund entrepreneurs developing innovative approaches …
COLLEGE PARK, MD. — JLL has negotiated the $62.7 million sale of Monument Village at College Park, a 235-unit multifamily community in College Park. The property features one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans averaging 894 square feet. Communal amenities include a pool with cabanas and outdoor grilling areas, fitness center with yoga and spin studios, Zen garden, clubroom with catering kitchen and billiards, movie theater and gaming room with snack bar, conference room, lounge with computer workstations and coffee bar, pet spa and a dog run. There is also 4,800 square feet of ground-level retail space. Completed in 2016, the asset is situated at 9123 Baltimore Ave., two miles north of University of Maryland and 10 miles northeast of downtown Washington, D.C. Walter Coker, Brian Crivella and Robert Jenkins of JLL represented the seller, Monument Realty, in the transaction. Foulger-Pratt purchased the community.
COCKEYSVILLE, MD. — Los Angeles-based CIM Group has purchased a 132,207-square-foot office building in Cockeysville for $39.1 million. The five-story building is situated at 40 Wight Ave., 18 miles north of downtown Baltimore. Engineering firm JMT occupies the building. The office building was built in 2017 and is LEED Gold-certified. Cris Abramson, Nicholas Signor and Ben McCarty of Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was not disclosed.
PRINCESS ANNE, MD. — Enterprise Community Development Inc. will construct Phase II of Reserve at Somerset Commons in Princess Anne. Construction on the 54-unit expansion is estimated to cost $14 million. Reserve at Somerset Commons II will offer one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units across two three-story garden apartment buildings. Of the 54 apartments, 48 will be available to families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of area median income (AMI) and six will be market-rate. Reserve at Somerset Commons II will complement the existing community by completing the circular drive and adding 108 parking spaces. Residents of Reserve at Somerset Commons II will share existing communal amenities at Phase I, which include a clubhouse, fitness center, great room, outdoor recreational and open space. AGM Financial Services Inc. provided the first mortgage. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Enterprise Community Investment Inc., Enterprise Community Loan Fund and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta are providing additional financing. Moseley Architects is serving as the project designer, and the general contractor is Harkins Builders Inc. R Home Property Management LLC is providing property management. Enterprise Community Development expects to complete Phase II this fall. The developer completed Phase I, a 75-unit building, in …
BALTIMORE — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has arranged the sale of Mount Clare Junction, a 234,036-square-foot retail property in Baltimore’s Mount Clare neighborhood. The property was 82 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Price Rite, Family Dollar and Capital One Bank. The shopping center is situated on 16 acres at 1223 W. Pratt St., two miles west of downtown Baltimore. Christopher Burnham, Dean Zang and David Crotts of IPA represented the undisclosed seller, a New York City-based investment management firm, in the transaction. An affiliate of Carlyle Group acquired the property for an undisclosed price. Bryn Merrey is Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record in Maryland.
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD. — Ready Capital has closed a $7.2 million acquisition loan for a 182-room hotel adjacent to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Linthicum Heights. The undisclosed borrower has reflagged the existing Rodeway Inn to a Wingate by Wyndham. Additionally, the hotel will go from economy class to mid-scale. In conjunction with the reflagging, a property improvement plan will be implemented to further increase average daily revenue (ADR) and occupancy. Ready Capital closed the non-recourse, interest-only, floating-rate loan that features a three-year term, two extension options, flexible prepayment and is inclusive of a facility to provide future funding for the property improvement plan.
FREDERICK, MD. — The Kroger Co. and Ocado, an online grocer based in England, will develop a 350,000-square-foot customer fulfillment center in Frederick. The new automated warehouse facility will service several nearby markets such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. When fully operational, the facility will house 400 employees and feature digital and robotic capabilities. The site is located at 7106 Geoffrey Way, 55 miles west of downtown Baltimore and 65 miles north of downtown D.C. The companies expect the facility to open 24 months after groundbreaking, a timeline for which was not disclosed.
ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), the owner of Westfield Annapolis mall, has unveiled plans to renovate and improve the mall, while adding new tenants. URW will convert the mall’s 110,000-square-foot former Lord & Taylor department store into a new shopping district composed of boutiques, home design stores and experience-driven offerings. The new section of the mall is slated to open to the public in 2021. URW’s mall-wide renovation program will include a new pedestrian gallery connecting the property’s Macy’s store and its Pottery Barn and Nordstrom wings. The gallery is expected to open by this September. The renovation will also create a new 40-foot architectural exterior entrance. The renovations to Westfield Annapolis come alongside new tenants arriving, including Rodizio Grill and Retro Fitness. In February of this year, Anne Arundel County’s Discoveries: The Library at the Mall, a dedicated learning space for teens and young children, is expected to open a permanent, expanded location at the mall. Shops and restaurants at Westfield Annapolis will remain open throughout the renovation process.
BALTIMORE — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the $29.2 million sale of two office properties in downtown Baltimore. An investment group led by Dallas-based Hubris Capital purchased both 100 South Charles-Tower II and 201 North Charles in two separate transactions. Jay Wellschlager, Andrew Finkelstein and Elizabeth Runge of JLL represented both undisclosed sellers in the two deals. 100 South Charles-Tower II is a 160,754-square-foot, eight-story office building situated atop a three-story podium containing the retail space and common lobby of the 100 South Charles development. Tower II was 74.6 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Liberty Mutual Group, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Behavioral Health System and four federal government departments. The property recently underwent nearly $2 million of capital upgrades, while the complex’s common areas were renovated separately. The 28-story, 251,943-square-foot 201 North Charles office building is one of the tallest office properties in downtown Baltimore. Located within walking distance of the Lexington Market Metro station, the property was 77.2 percent leased at the time of sale. The building features 52 underground parking spaces, a café, fitness center with showers and a locker room and 24-hour building security.
ROCKVILLE, MD. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $62 million loan for the refinancing of The Daley at Shady Grove, a 333-unit apartment community in Rockville with nearly 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Jamie Leachman, Eric Tupler and Josh Simon of JLL arranged the seven-year loan on behalf of the borrower, Denver-based Black Creek Group, through a life company lender. The loan features interest-only payments for half of the term and a fixed 3.2 percent interest rate. The Daley at Shady Grove is located at 8010 Gramercy Blvd. within EYA’s Westside at Shady Grove master-planned community, which is less than one mile from the Shady Grove Metro Station. Built in 2017, the apartment community’s amenities include a pool, grilling station and a fitness center. Starbucks anchors the community’s retail portion.