Maryland

LANHAM, MD. — A partnership between Chesapeake Real Estate Group and Thompson Creek Window Co. has purchased a six-story, 122,000-square-foot office building located at 4200 Parliament Place in Lanham, a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. The partnership acquired the Class A office building and an adjoining land parcel from Mack-Cali Realty Corp. for $6.3 million. The partnership plans to immediately design and permit an additional development on the adjacent land parcel, which can house up to 120,000 square feet of commercial space. Built in 1989, the office building was roughly 33 percent leased at the time of sale. Thompson Creek plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to the property this year, which will increase the occupancy to approximately 48 percent. The company designs, builds and installs replacement windows, doors and siding on existing residential homes throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Christopher Murray of Chesapeake Real Estate Group will be responsible for managing and leasing the project.

GREENBELT, MD. — Rubenstein Partners LP and partner Trammell Crow Co. (TCC) have closed nearly 33,000 square feet of leases at Maryland Trade Center III, a 192,000-square-foot office building in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Greenbelt. The Class A building is located at the intersection of the Capital Beltway and MD 295. The transactions include a 18,280-square-foot lease renewal with The Retina Group, a healthcare firm specializing in retinal and macular practices; a new 4,214-square-foot lease with Allstate Insurance Co.; and three additional leases totaling roughly 10,000 square feet. Since purchasing Maryland Trade Center III in 2012, Rubenstein and TCC have upgraded the building’s lobby, restrooms and mechanical systems and installed a new HVAC system. Niel Beggy of Avison Young, Bill Zonghetti of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank and Todd Bosley and Tim Jaeger of CBRE provided tenant representation for the transactions.

COLUMBIA, MD. — The Howard Hughes Corp. has acquired two office buildings in downtown Columbia for a combined $38.8 million. The firm purchased The American City Building, which is adjacent to a Whole Foods Market on Little Patuxent Parkway, for $16.5 million and One Mall North, a fully leased, four-story office building, for $22.3 million. Both purchases were underwritten in view of their future development potential. Howard Hughes plans to demolish the mostly vacant American City Building to make way for a mixed-use development with multifamily, retail and restaurant components. The company hasn’t unveiled plans for One Mall North, but the site is zoned for retail, office or multifamily use of up to nine stories. The redevelopment opportunity for these sites will aid in the city’s goal to revamp downtown Columbia. The Howard County government recently approved a $90 million tax increment financing (TIF) to fund public infrastructure improvements and a new parking garage in downtown Columbia’s Merriweather District, a 5 million-square-foot mixed-use development. Currently downtown Columbia has nearly 14 million square feet of vertical entitlements, including the Merriweather District.