Law Firm Duane Morris Inks Lease To Relocate To Harbor Point

Law firm Duane Morris LLP has signed a lease deal to move its offices a few blocks east from Harbor East to Harbor Point. 

Armada Hoffler, the developer of the 330K SF mixed-use building Wills Wharf, announced Thursday that the firm has agreed to lease 10K SF at the property. 

“This lease with Duane Morris LLP reinforces the unique appeal of Wills Wharf and strong demand for office space within Harbor Point,” Armada Hoffler CEO Louis Haddad said in a statement. “Employees of corporate office tenants want to work in dynamic mixed-use environments. Providing such a collaborative workplace in a vibrant community has become imperative for employee recruitment and retention.”

So far, developers have delivered 955K SF of office space through the first two phases of building at Harbor Point, and according to Armada Hoffler, the Duane Morris deal pushes office occupancy at Harbor Point to 97%. Developers may add nearly 900K SF of additional office space in the subsequent two building phases, including up to 200K SF in phase four, which developers expect to deliver in 2028, according to the project's website. 

Law firms nationwide have embraced the flight to quality trend as technology has reduced the office space required for rows of file cabinets and physical law libraries.  

Since opening its first office in Baltimore in 2007, Philadelphia-based Duane Morris' office leases have followed that trend. Initially, the firm leased 17K SF at 111 S. Calvert St. in Baltimore's traditional central business district before leasing 14K SF at what was then called the Legg Mason Tower in Harbor East, the Baltimore Business Journal reported at the time.  

Now, Duane Morris is relocating from the 15-year-old 100 International Drive to Wills Wharf, which delivered 256K SF of waterfront office space in 2020. In addition to the office space, Wills Wharf includes a 156-room Canopy by Hilton on the building's top four floors and eatery Cindy Lou's Fish House. 

Duane Morris is one of many local firms that has shed space for a spot in newer buildings in recent years. In 2022, DLA Piper signed a lease to relocate from its 123K SF space in Pikesville to 34K SF at 650 S. Exeter St. in Harbor East following similar moves by Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr and Gordon Feinblatt LLC.

Peter Jackson, Tony Gross and Rob Freedman of JLL represented Armada Hoffler in the transaction, while CBRE's David Fields represented Duane Morris.