News
BALTIMORE INDUSTRIAL CAN DO BETTER
May 16, 2012
| Like a parent looking at a misbehaving child, Duke Realty SVP Peter Scholz (who's speaking at Bisnow's Baltimore Industrial Summit on May 30) is "disappointed" in Baltimore's industrial showing lately. That's because he knows it can do better. |
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| Today, Peter (above, at a past Bisnow event) told us leasing has been lethargic for six months. Duke's two Baltimore properties (450k SF at the port) are 100% leased to four tenants with no near-term rollover, so he's well-positioned to wait it out. But another 127 vacant acres there has capacity for another 2.2M SF, and boy would it be nice to develop that—if only the demand were there. What gives, he wonders. |
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| The site where Duke's Chesapeake Commerce Center (above) now stands was once a 180-acre GM manufacturing plant (if you had a Chevy van before soccer-mom vans were cool, this is probably where it was made). Duke acquired it in '06; invested a bundle in demolition,remediation, and new development; and sold 27 acres off in two deals to a user and to the port. Duke's definitely not marketing what's left to competing developers but would love to develop there itself and also would open its ears if a user/buyer stopped by to check it out. Peter tells us his firm saw the benefit of Baltimore when it began that investment six years ago and developers are optimistic creatures; the question marks around future development have to do with regulations: Baltimore's status as a port middleweight, zoning, stormwater management, and possible solar requirements. |
