Chasen Cos. Adding 101 Condos In 'Undersupplied' Baltimore
Baltimore-based developer Chasen Cos. is adding 101 high-end condo units to three of its multifamily projects in the city, a move that nearly doubles the pipeline of unsold units in the metro area.
Chasen Cos. CEO Brandon Chasen told the Baltimore Business Journal his firm plans to add 32 condos to The Plaza at 1 South Calvert St., 44 condos to The Whitney at 600 South Caroline St., and 25 condos at The Anne on Aliceanna at 1400 Aliceanna St.
Those units could sell for as much as $1.3M, Chasen told the BBJ. The condos are part of multifamily projects that include larger rental components, but the developer decided to pivot portions of them to for-sale units and brought on Monument Sotheby's International Realty's Charlie Hatter to lead the sales effort.
Chasen Cos. didn't immediately respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
Despite Delta Associates' most recent report on the local condo market questioning the depth of demand in the area, William Rich, president of the commercial real estate research firm, said the number of units Chasen proposes is in line with what Baltimore can support.
"The market has been undersupplied for quite a while, so the introduction of new product was needed. ... The size of each are in the right range and the locations are appropriate for condo development," Rich said in an email.
As of June, Delta Associates counted 114 new unsold condos in projects being marketed or under construction in the Baltimore metro area. Researchers also found one project consisting of 92 units that is expected to deliver in the next three years.
Prices for new condos also increased over the past two years. The effective price change for a new unit in Baltimore increased by less than 1% year-over-year during the 12-month period that ended in June, according to Delta Associates. At the same time, the metro average rose 3.4%.
The resale market has emerged as the most muscular portion of the local condo market. Resale volume increased from 3,943 sales in 2016 to 4,101 in 2022, a rise Delta Associates researchers described as "relatively robust."
But Delta Associates' second-quarter report also found softness in the local condo sales market, as the rapid rise in interest rates over the last year has slowed the residential sales market across the country.
Five new condos were sold in the Baltimore metro in the second quarter. During the 12 months ending in June, 48 new condos sold, down from 142 new units sold during the prior 12 months.
"New condo sales in the Baltimore metro area have pulled back this quarter in what is typically the busy spring selling season," according to the report.
Likewise, Delta Associates’ estimate of how long the Baltimore area’s condo inventory will last increased from 13.3 months in the second quarter of 2022 to 28.5 months in the second quarter of 2023.
"With so many reasonably priced rowhomes, single family homes, and rental communities, there is not a large-scale condo market in Baltimore," the report says.
