This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet

Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust announced it will adopt a new name, COPT Defense Properties, starting Sept. 15 to reflect the company’s increased emphasis on investing in assets near national defense hubs.

Stephen E. Budorick, COPT’s president and CEO, said the real estate investment trust’s strategy in the last decade focused on backing properties near or leasing to entities involved in “priority National Defense missions and mission-critical operations.” Since 2016, he said, COPT has spent 100% of committed capital investment on development projects at defense and information technology locations.

“We decided to change the company name to COPT Defense Properties to align our name with our investment strategy, and better inform current and future investors of our commitment to our strategy, and the differentiated investment benefits that we believe our strategy has and will continue to deliver to shareholders,” Budorick said in a statement.

In January, COPT formed two joint ventures with Blackstone that purchased 90% interest in a portfolio of five single-tenant data centers valued at $278M.

Locally, COPT also invested in projects like the Columbia Gateway development, near the National Security Agency headquarters and U.S. Cyber Command’s home at Fort General George G. Meade. Due mainly to Columbia Gateway’s proximity to those facilities, the number of cybersecurity firms leasing space at that building increased from 45% in 2018 to 65% at the start of this year.

However, COPT still controls substantial amounts of traditional office space locally, including two of the most prominent office towers in downtown Baltimore: 250 West Pratt St., the former Pandora headquarters, and 100 Light St. The firm has invested nearly $20M in rehabbing the building at 100 Light St., which has helped attract some new tenants this year. 

SALES

Walton Global said Wednesday it purchased 94 acres of land in Aberdeen, a site it has branded as Robinhood. According to its announcement, the asset management and real estate investment company plans to build a residential development on the property. However, Walton did not specify the type of residential units it intends to construct on the site, which sits within 10 minutes of Interstate 95 and Pulaski Highway. 

LEASES

Mediterranean-style restaurant Cypriana has inked a deal with St. John Properties to lease 5,595 SF at 8171 Maple Lawn Blvd. in the Maple Lawn development in Howard County. Partially owned by a division of the Greene Turtle chain, Cypriana has operated a location in Baltimore since 2017. Bill Holzman, St. John’s vice president of retail leasing, represented the landlord in this transaction.

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A California-based “extreme value” supermarket called Grocery Outlet Bargain Market plans to open Thursday in Catonsville, the Baltimore Sun reports. The independently operated store is backfilling 20K SF at 6510 Baltimore National Park, previously occupied by a Sports Authority and then a trampoline park.  

DEVELOPMENT   

Baltimore’s spending board approved a payment-in-lieu of taxes agreement as requested by nonprofit CSI Support and Development, which is interested in purchasing the 11-story, 203-unit low-income apartment building in East Baltimore. Board members voted 4-1 in favor of approving the agreement on Wednesday. The property at 1400 East Madison St. has been owned by a subsidiary of Preservation Management Inc., but CSI sought the tax break from the city before purchasing the property.

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Hoar Construction broke ground on an 80K SF tilt-wall warehouse in Glen Burnie, roughly 11 miles from Baltimore Washington International Airport. Developer Brennan Investment Group tapped Hoar as the contractor and expects the project to wrap by next spring.

PERSONNEL 

Baltimore-based St. John Properties has promoted Crystal Halstead to assistant vice president of property management. Halstad started working for the company in 2004 and most recently filled the role of director of property management.