Scheer Partners JDA Software Group of Scottsdale, Ariz., signed a 10-year lease for 38,000 square feet in the 282,000-square-foot Danac Stiles corporate campus in Rockville.

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With the help of a $12 million grant from Montgomery County, the federal General Services Administration negotiated better terms to keep the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Silver Spring, under a new 15-year lease signed Wednesday.

The deal means that NOAA will keep 4,200 workers and remain the lead tenant at Silver Spring Metro Center, a four-building complex that developer Foulger-Pratt of Rockville completed in 2004. NOAA occupies about 1 million square feet at 1305, 1315 and 1325 East West Highway.

“This latest federal win is a direct result of the county's strategic, proactive outreach, led by our Department of Economic Development, to both GSA and NOAA and is also a result of the department's ongoing interaction with area developers and property owners, in this case Foulger-Pratt,” County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said in a news release.

In anticipation of the NOAA leases expiring in 2013, the GSA issued a solicitation in October 2010 for offers for 1 million square feet of office space in the suburban Maryland market. Foulger-Pratt responded with a promise to invest $40 million in the three buildings during the next two years, to upgrade heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems to improve energy efficiency, and to achieve silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We are thrilled with GSA's lease renewal for NOAA in Silver Spring and this great outcome was made possible by the county economic development team's initiative to work with us to ensure a deal that was viable for all parties involved,” said Bryant Foulger, the firm’s managing principal.

The lease rate is $32.11 per square foot, according to the GSA, which is slightly less than the $34-per-square-foot rate cap on rents in suburban Maryland.

Local and federal officials have been agitating for raising the rate, but the deal represents a boost for Foulger-Pratt. The total annual rent was less than $24.4 million for 986,000 rentable square feet when the GSA first floated plans to stay in Silver Spring in 2009, according to a lease prospectus the agency submitted to Congress that year. The proposed total annual cost was $33.5 million under the $34-per-square-foot rate cap.

To sweeten the deal, Leggett and the County Council approved a request from the economic development department to offer Foulger-Pratt a conditional grant not to exceed $12 million over 15 years.

“With more than 8.3 million square feet of federally leased space in the county, our ability to work with GSA, federal agency leadership and the development community is critical to ensuring that we continue to facilitate the retention and growth of this sector in the county,” Steven A. Silverman, the county’s economic development director, said in a statement. “NOAA, and other federal agencies like [the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Cancer Institute and Nuclear Regulatory Commission], all of whom have recently retained and/or expanded their space and jobs in the county, remain steady contributors to our local economic and job base.”

NOAA's lease renewal follows a string of crucial deals for the county’s federal employment base. The Government Accountability Office this month upheld a lease renewal to keep 3,000 Department of Health and Human Services workers in the Parklawn office complex in Rockville owned by the JBG Cos. The Chevy Chase company also is developing a new 490,998-square-foot building to house 2,000 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases employees. Other major projects include a second office tower in White Flint for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a new $200 million satellite campus at the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center for 2,100 employees of the National Cancer Institute.

Arizona supply chain firm leases in Rockville

JDA Software Group has signed a 10-year lease for 38,000 square feet of office and training space at 9713 Key West Ave. in the three-building, 282,000-square-foot Danac Stiles corporate campus in Rockville.

The international supply-chain company from Scottsdale, Ariz., was represented by Robert Scheer, president, and Matt Brady, vice president, of Scheer Partners.

In a statement, Scheer called the property one with “convenient access to major highways such as Interstate-270 [that] is also surrounded by numerous amenities like restaurants and retailers.”

JDA first occupied space at the campus about five years ago, dating to its acquisition of Manugistics Group of Rockville, a publicly traded provider of synchronized revenue-management and supply-chain systems.

When JDA acquired the company in 2006, it picked up Manugistics’ lease of the entire complex at 9713, 9715 and 9717 Key West Ave., which had been Manugistics’ headquarters. The property is owned by CommonWealth REIT of Newton, Mass.

Publicly held JDA has 14 U.S. offices, 23 international locations and more than 3,000 employees, according to Scheer information.

Forestville retail strip center sells for $10.88 million

Morgan Property Group of Charlotte, N.C., said it sold a 19,620-square-foot retail strip center in Forestville for $10.88 million to a joint venture between Scottsdale-Miller Associates LP II and HHL & HL-Indiana LLC.

The newly completed property is fully leased to a Walgreens drugstore and a Sherwin-Williams paint store. Morgan bought the center at the northeast corner of Marlboro Pike & Donnell Drive in 2008 and completed construction and renovations for Walgreens to open in September and Sherwin-Williams to reopen in November 2010.

“Both tenants are extremely pleased with the completed project,” said Trey Morgan, president of Morgan Property Group. “Sherwin-Williams continues a long history in this area, and Walgreens will no doubt be a strong retailer here for years to come.”

The property is on 1.8 acres at 7000 and 7008 Marlboro Pike.

Sherwin-Williams has occupied the parcel since the mid-1980s. Morgan acquired the Walgreens site from Sherwin-Williams.

The property traded at approximately 98 percent of the asking price, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage of Philadelphia, which represented both parties in the deal.

The Chase at Bethesda Metro changes name and owner

Equity Residential Properties of Chicago has acquired the Chase at Bethesda Metro, a 122-unit luxury high-rise apartment building, according to Transwestern’s Mid-Atlantic Multifamily Group in Bethesda, which brokered the deal.

Terms of the sale by a venture of Rockwood Capital and Ross Development & Investment were not disclosed.

The 43,798-square-foot property at 4903 Edgemoor Lane is now called the Edgemont at Bethesda Metro. The building was assessed at $22.9 million this year.

The property was completed in 1989 and underwent substantial renovations and luxury upgrades in 2007, including the addition of granite kitchen countertops, maple cabinets, stainless steel appliances and stone ceramic flooring.

The Washington metro area continues to be the best performing apartment market in the nation and luxury rentals in Montgomery County lead the way, according to the third-quarter Class A Apartment Report from Transwestern’s research affiliate, Delta Associates. Stabilized vacancy for investment grade apartments in the Washington region is 2.8 percent, compared with 5.8 percent nationally, while rents rose 3.7 percent for the 12 months ending in September. Rent growth for Class A mid- and high-rise apartments in Montgomery County was 5.2 percent during this same period and continues to outperform area submarkets, such as Northern Virginia at 3.0 percent and Washington at 4.4 percent.

Global LifeSci chosen for White Oak project

Leggett named Global LifeSci Development, an affiliate of Percontee, as the private development partner for a new life sciences center next to the Food and Drug Administration’s new complex in White Oak.

The company will combine the county-owned, 115-acre former Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Com-Pro facility, off Md. 29 and Industrial Parkway, with Percontee’s own 185-acre former sand and gravel quarry to create a 300-acre parcel. Plans call for a mixed-use office, residential and retail complex to bring high-paying jobs to the eastern side of the Montgomery County.

“Today marks the start of an incredible opportunity to create, here in the eastern part of Montgomery County, Maryland, a true mixed-use legacy development project,” Leggett said Dec. 9. “Global LifeSci Development ... brings all the elements you could ask for to the table as the County’s private-sector development partner — a longstanding history of local and regional development, strong financial footing to support necessary investment in the project and, most importantly, a real understanding of and concern for the residents, neighborhoods and communities that make up the East County.”

The county’s so-called Site 2 is next to the 130-acre consolidated headquarters of the FDA and the site of the planned new Washington Adventist Hospital.

The Percontee property once provided raw materials for developer Homer Gudelsky to build commercial and residential complexes around the Washington region.

“My father, Homer Gudelsky, took pride in working with Montgomery County nearly 40 years ago, using our family's land in the then-rural area of Shady Grove to create the nation’s first business park exclusively zoned for the life sciences — which became the catalyst for today's Shady Grove Life Sciences Center along the I-270 Technology Corridor,” John Gudelsky said. “Now, it's White Oak's turn and my family will once again take pride in working with Montgomery County and the local community to create one of the nation's premier life sciences clusters.”

This new project will include a bioscience employment and research center, as well as a variety of housing choices, trails, parks and outdoor spaces, educational facilities, restaurants, shops and other entertainment and services amenities.

The county said it will work with Global LifeSci to develop a project that fits with the White Oak Science Gateway master plan, now being developed the Montgomery County Planning Department.

Prudential Real Estate Investors buys into office park

Prudential Real Estate Investors bought three completed buildings and a 22-acre parcel in the Brick Yard Business Park, according to developer Jackson-Shaw of Dallas.

Terms weren’t disclosed but state records show Prudential paid $37.3 million to join Jackson-Shaw as a partner in developing the 60-acre mixed-use business park in Beltsville. The deal includes undeveloped land and 273,000 square feet of light industrial, flex and warehouse space, which will be marketed by TSC Realty Services of Bethesda.

“The Brick Yard Business Park has experienced tremendous success since delivering its first building in 2009, and we look forward to continuing with an aggressive leasing and development campaign,” said Chase Galbraith, vice president of development for Jackson-Shaw. “Explosive growth throughout the region and the development of high-quality projects, like The Brick Yard, are establishing Prince George’s County as the economic hub of suburban Maryland.”

The complex is 75 percent occupied with owners and tenants such as Carrier, Freestate Electrical, Party Rental, Limbach Facility Services and American Mechanical Services. Plans are being finalized for the next phase of business park construction, which is expected to break ground in mid-2012.

“We are very excited about this project, especially as the Intercounty Connector opens and streamlines access to Montgomery County and the I-270 corridor,” said TSC Vice President Rob Foa.

Construction on infrastructure for residential units began in mid-November. Jackson-Shaw has contracted with Ryland Homes to build 51 single-family homes and 354 townhomes, and with JLB to build about 860 multifamily units surrounding the Muirkirk MARC station.

Bozzuto Group breaks ground on Fells Point complex

The Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt broke ground Wednesday on Union Wharf, a $72 million mixed-use waterfront community that will bring 281 upscale apartments and 4,500 square feet to Baltimore's waterfront Fells Point neighborhood.

The project, which also includes parking for 500 vehicles, is being financed in part through a partnership between Bozzuto, Cigna and Pritzker Realty Group, a Chicago real estate investment company, and a construction loan from PNC Real Estate.

Gaithersburg complex sells for $7.05 million

Stellar Rosewood has sold 65 units at Rosewood, a garden-style condominium and apartment complex in Gaithersburg to the Goldstar Group for $7.05 million, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, which represented Stellar Rosewood.

Built in 1986 and substantially renovated in 2005, the complex was converted to condominiums in 2006 and 2007 with a total of 65 units left unsold.

"This acquisition is a good fit for our multifamily portfolio strategy, which we are in the process of executing," said Michael Brodsky CEO of Goldstar, in a statement.

Laurel shopping center sells for $3M

Black Oak Associates of Owings Mills has acquired Laurel Gardens, a 30,700-square-foot shopping center in Laurel for $3 million.

The shopping center, at the intersection of Sandy Spring Road and Nicholas Drive, comprises a 29,000-square-foot Bottom Dollar Food store, which is owned and operated by Food Lion, and the 1,700-square-foot Laurel Liquors store.

Black Oak views Laurel Gardens as a complement to the other 10 grocery centers in its portfolio, spokesman Dixon Harvey said in a statement. Baltimore County Savings Bank provided debt financing for the acquisition.

Four leases inked at Frederick business campus

St. John Properties of Baltimore reported signing four leases totaling almost 17,000 square feet of research and development and office space in the Center at Monocacy, a nine-building, 423,000-square-foot business campus at the intersection of I-270 and Md. 85 in Frederick.

The new leases were signed by Performance Automatic, which relocated from the Montgomery Airpark in Gaithersburg and sells and distributes specialized automotive racing transmissions, 7,515 square feet; Anything in Stained Glass, which located from Cape May, N.J., 5,520 square feet; the Frederick County Association of Realtors, 2,760 square feet; and Healthcare Service Partners, a medical office management company, which expanded to 4,000 square feet.

Industrial building in Linthicum fetches $1 million

AB&GH bought, for just more than $1 million, 5200 Raynor Ave., a 6,500-square-foot industrial property in Linthicum, from Rebath of Maryland, according to broker NAI KLNB, which represented both parties.

AB&GH operates Control Roofing and Sheet Metal, which provides construction services such as roof installations and exterior renovations and installations for public facilities such as schools and hospitals.

The industrial warehouse, on 1.3 acres, has 15-foot ceilings, five drive-in dock doors and nearly 1,000 square feet of mezzanine office space. It was built in 1975.

“This strategically located building provides Control Roofing and Sheet Metal with a prime position to access the Baltimore metropolitan marketplace, as well as areas within the BWI Airport submarket,” Jim Caronna of NAI KLNB said in a statement.