This Week's Baltimore Deal Sheet
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott signed a pair of inclusionary housing bills this week, replacing a previous ordinance critics called inadequate.
During a bill signing ceremony Monday at City Hall, Scott said that replacing the previous ordinance, which expired in 2022, and increasing affordable housing supply in the city was a “moral imperative.”
“Access to housing is so often the difference between a family’s ability to have security and success or for them to face the most dire impacts that historic disinvestment can have on our communities,” Scott said in a statement.
The bills are the first inclusionary housing legislation passed in Baltimore since 2007. Activists and city lawmakers argued loopholes in the previous bill undermined its effectiveness.
Critics of the previous ordinance said the law’s biggest fault was provisions that granted developers waivers if the city couldn't afford to reimburse builders the cost of including affordable units.
Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who sponsored the bills, criticized the previous law for its lack of impact. She said the old law only spurred the construction of 34 affordable housing units in the last 15 years.
“With these two bills, we will truly have mixed-income communities by creating affordable units where currently there are none. This is a significant step in eliminating the impact of our racist housing policies that were established in the very same chamber where we passed these bills,” Ramos said.
SALES
A joint venture of St. John Properties and Greenebaum Enterprises has purchased a 12.5-acre parcel in the Montpelier Research Park for an undisclosed price. The partnership plans to speculatively develop a pair of single-story flex/R&D buildings totaling nearly 70K SF. The purchase includes a two-story 32K SF office building that’s being marketed for lease. The developers expect to deliver the new buildings in 2026.
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New York-based RW Dake Construction purchased a 51K SF warehouse at 10331 S. Dolfield Road in Owings Mills from United Sortation Solutions LLC for $7.75M. The construction firm plans to relocate its Maryland regional office from Columbia to the property later this year. MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services' Matthew Curran, Andrew Meeder and Daniel Hudak represented the buyer.
LEASES
Nonprofit healthcare organization CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has leased roughly 20K SF at The Village at Mondawmin at Mondawmin Mall. CareFirst said it plans to use the space to expand its workforce development programs. Whiting-Turner CEO Tim Regan bought and transformed the former Target store into a community hub to help revitalize surrounding West Baltimore neighborhoods.
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Advanced Dermal Health & Aesthetics, which provides non-surgical cosmetic procedures and skin healthcare services, has leased space at 10400 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, where the firm plans to offer medical spa services. Hyatt Commercial Senior Vice President Laurie Zuiderhof worked with the tenant to locate and secure the space.
DEVELOPMENT
The Maryland Department of Transportation is asking residents for ideas on what they want to include in a planned overhaul of the Reisterstown Plaza Metro Station. The state agency recently started collecting feedback from residents on its master plan for developing the site, WBAL-TV reports. So far, the concept includes the potential to add retail and green space to the site.
PERSONNEL
Howard County-based real estate brokerage and management firm Lee & Associates Maryland has promoted Ben Brooks to senior associate. Brooks worked as a summer intern with Lee & Associates before the firm hired the Trinity College graduate in 2021 as a research analyst and eventually promoted him to associate. Brooks’ responsibilities include tenant and landlord representation, focusing on commercial office, medical, flex and warehouse properties in central Maryland.
