This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet
Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake is moving its headquarters from downtown Baltimore to the Baltimore Gateway building off Interstate 95 near the county line.
The nonprofit agency plans to relocate 40 employees to 3700 Kopper’s St., where it is leasing 14,662 SF from St. John Properties. The Baltimore Gateway location will be home to Goodwill’s administrative and leadership team.
“The footprint of the building allows our team to work on the same floor and the strategic location off Interstates 695 and 95 provides us immediate access to our network throughout Maryland,” Lisa Rusyniak, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, said in a statement.
Goodwill plans to turn its existing headquarters at 222 East Redwood St. into the Excel Center, a tuition-free high school for adults who are at least 21 years old, expected to open in 2023.
St. John Properties recently completed an $8M renovation of the Baltimore Gateway building, including modernizing common areas and the lobby, and installing a new HVAC system and an LED pylon sign with a 200 SF message board visible from I-95.
SALES
Baltimore’s iconic Harborplace mall is close to being sold for substantially less than the value listed in recent appraisals, the Baltimore Business Journal reported Tuesday. Developer David P. Bramble of MCB Real Estate has acknowledged his interest in the property, which is currently working through receivership.
New court documents signal that a deal between the receiver and MCB is imminent, and they listed the property's liquidation value at $27.5M, down from a $45.8M appraisal it received in June, according to the BBJ.
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An Annapolis-based Osprey Property Company II LLC affiliate has purchased the Foxchase Village Apartments in Great Mills, Maryland, for an undisclosed price. Osprey plans to rename the property Admirals Landing and rehabilitate the residences, which currently consist of 134 units utilizing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits program and $1.56M from the federal Rental Housing Program. Adam Stein of Columbia-based BridgeWater Real Estate Brokerage represented the seller in the deal.
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The Portland, a 30-unit apartment building with one commercial space in Baltimore’s Ridgely’s Delight neighborhood, has sold for $5.73M, according to Harbor Stone Advisors, which represented the seller, Zahlco. A full-service day spa occupies the commercial space at 613 Portland St., with a lease that runs through 2023.
LEASES
The H. Chambers Co., a 123-year-old interior design business, is the first office tenant to sign a lease at Port Covington, MAG Partners CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin announced last week during Bisnow’s Baltimore State of the Market event. The company, which is currently headquartered in the Montgomery Park development in southwest Baltimore, signed a 9K SF lease at the Port Covington building dubbed E-7.
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McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC will keep its offices in Frederick but relocate from Corporate Drive to the Riverside complex on Progress Drive. The firm will lease 6,608 SF for 14 workstations and two conference rooms. The firm is moving to support its anticipated expansion in Maryland.
MILESTONES
The University of Maryland, Baltimore, and Wexford Science & Technology plan to break ground next month on 4 MLK, a new eight-story, 250K SF building at the University of Maryland BioPark. The building is part of Phase 1 of a $320M investment that aims to add wet lab space for researchers, flexible lab and office space for startups, and Class-A office space. Backers expect the building to deliver in the summer of 2024.
PERSONNEL
St. John Properties has hired Chris Kauffmann as project manager of interior construction. Kauffmann’s new position focuses on coordinating the construction of tenant build-outs for new leases and expansions within St. John Properties' regional portfolio. Previously, Kauffmann worked at Harkins Builders Inc. as a project engineer.
