This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet

The University of Maryland, Baltimore plans to build a new school of social work near Lexington Market in downtown's Westside neighborhood.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, the university intends to build the new structure in the 600 block of West Lexington Street for $121M. The university didn't respond to Bisnow's requests for comment. 

Stakeholders in the area, including the university and the Baltimore Development Corp., the city's quasi-public economic development agency, have long sought to revive the struggling neighborhood.

Those efforts have resulted in substantial new real estate investments in the community, which includes the area between West Fayette and West Saratoga streets and spans from Charles Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.  

Seawall Development last month opened the new $45M Lexington Market building. Zalcho Development also plans to build a $25M mixed-use project on the Westside called Mayfair Place, which incorporates the facade of the historic Mayfair Theatre.

During the ceremony celebrating the new Lexington Market building’s opening, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore acknowledged the struggling neighborhood's need for further investment.

"This is a celebration of work still yet to happen," Moore said.

The Westside, particularly the Howard Street corridor, once served as Baltimore's premier retail location. However, as white flight from the city accelerated through the 1960s, the neighborhood fell on hard times. 

In the years that followed, a dwindling retail base left behind large, outdated buildings that plagued the neighborhood. Crime in the area also increased along with vacancy, causing safety concerns that further complicated redevelopment efforts.   

“There's been a downward trajectory within the neighborhood, in terms of property value, population, economic activity, for a very long time,” Luke Mowbray, the university's director of real estate, planning and space management, told the Baltimore Business Journal. “I think it's one of the roles of an anchor institution like UMB to try and be part of changing the direction of that momentum."

SALES

The downtrodden Edmondson Village shopping center, once a symbol of Baltimore's post-World War II prosperity, is under agreement to sell to a Chicago-based REIT for $17M just weeks after a mass shooting at the property left a teenager dead, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. The buyer, Chicago TREND, expects to finalize the deal for Edmondson Village in April.

Chicago TREND bills itself as a catalyst for accelerating financing for retail developments that "drive neighborhood transformation." The company plans to raise funds for a $40M overhaul of the property by selling stakes for as little as $1K. By allowing residents to own a piece of the property, the company hopes to bolster community support for the project.  

***

An 81-year-old Baltimore warehouse with more than 27.5K SF sold for $1.53M to an undisclosed buyer. Dry-cleaning and laundry service Metro Cleaners sold the property after it opted to close and sell its assets. 

According to property records, the building at 2728 Loch Raven Blvd., completed in 1941, last sold in January 2015 for $400K. MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services represented Metro Cleaners in the sale. 

LEASES

Wells Fargo Advisors consolidated two offices and signed a nearly 10K SF lease at 2661 Riva Road in Annapolis. According to MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, the 2661 Riva Road building has 16K SF available for lease, including the entire first floor. The building is part of the Riva 400 Office Park. 

THIS AND THAT

The federal government is shelling out $2.3M to improve public roads and sidewalks in east Baltimore's Eager Park neighborhood, according to Johns Hopkins University. East Baltimore Development Inc., a nonprofit steering redevelopment of an 88-acre area north of the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, will lead the infrastructure project.  

PERSONNEL

Northmarq has hired Ari Azarbarzin as its new investment sales leader and senior vice president in Baltimore. Azarbarzin worked as a senior director at Cushman & Wakefield. In his new role, Azarbarzin will oversee the multifamily investment sales team and execute investment sales in the Baltimore area and the mid-Atlantic. 

***

Owings Mills-based WPM Real Estate Management hired Staci Gelfound as president of its association real estate division. As president, she will be responsible for guiding the growth and direction of the division and leading the division's 45 employees. Most recently, Gelfound worked as FirstService Residential's Bethesda office vice president.