This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet
CFG Bank has inked the largest lease yet at the massive Baltimore Peninsula development.
The development team, led by MAG Partners and MacFarlane Partners, announced Wednesday that CFG Bank signed on for three floors totaling 97K SF at 2455 House St.
In addition to serving as CFG Bank's headquarters, the building will also house operations for Capital Funding Group and the Jack and Nancy Dwyer Workforce Development Center. CFG Bank, which also owns the branding rights to Baltimore's recently overhauled arena, acknowledged its intent to move to Baltimore Peninsula in September.
"As our businesses continued to grow, we were in search of a new location that could accommodate our current and future expansion, provide an environment to foster our team’s entrepreneurial spirit, and support the reinvigoration of Baltimore,” CFG Bank President and CEO Bill Wiedel said in a statement.
House Street is the most significant asset in what the development team calls phase 1B of its plans. In November, MAG Partners CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin and MacFarlane Partners CEO Victor MacFarlane said they were on track to announce a second deal at 2455 House St. in early 2023. That deal would bring the office space leased at the building to 212K SF.
The H. Chambers Co., a 123-year-old interior design business, was the first official office tenant at Baltimore Peninsula. That firm signed a nearly 8K SF lease at Rye Market, which consists of 248K SF of office space and 45K SF of market space.
SALES
East Drive Shopping Center, a roughly 65K SF retail property in Arbutus, sold for $5.7M to an undisclosed buyer, according to Neuman Commercial Group.
At the time of the sale, the property was 72% leased by tenants including Save-A-Lot, Pizza Boli's and Dollar General. Neuman Commercial Group represented the seller, an affiliate of Bien/Paul Ventures.
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CSX Transportation purchased a 3.6-acre industrial parcel at 1920 Benhill Ave. in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood for $1.85M. The property also includes two buildings totaling about 23K SF.
CSX intends to expand its existing operations next to the recently acquired site, according to MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, which represented seller USALCO in the deal.
LEASES
The Baltimore Sun will move its headquarters to 200 St. Paul Place, the newspaper announced Sunday.
The Sun moved its headquarters to its printing facilities at Baltimore Peninsula, formerly Port Covington, several years ago after a previous owner sold its longtime home on Calvert Street downtown. This fall, the newspaper said it would be moving its offices from Baltimore Peninsula after it agreed to outsource its printing operations.
The Sun will join The Daily Record, which recently reduced its footprint in the building, as the second newspaper operating at 200 St. Paul Place.
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Demolition and environmental services firm Retro Environmental Inc. signed a roughly 9K SF lease at Londontown Business Center in Eldersburg, according to MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services. Retro Environmental plans to relocate its headquarters from Sykesville to the two-story building at 1332 Londontown Blvd., which totals more than 365K SF.
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The state spending board approved a lease extension between the Baltimore Ravens and the Maryland Stadium Authority that keeps the team playing at M&T Bank Stadium through 2037. Under the new deal, included on Wednesday’s Board of Public Works agenda, the team would pay no rent but would be responsible for maintenance and operations at the stadium.
PERSONNEL
St. John Properties promoted Mike Jones to project manager and Ellen Quinn to manager of administration in the company’s interior construction division.
Jones has worked at St. John Properties since 2016 and formerly served as superintendent of interior construction. Quinn previously worked as an interior construction coordinator after rejoining the company in 2019.
