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The Anne Arundel County Council seems poised to more than quadruple development impact fees for the largest new office buildings this month after dropping a provision that would have taxed additions to private homes.

A bill backed by County Executive John Leopold (R) could win approval at a Sept. 15 council session after amendments were adopted Tuesday to blunt the original proposed fee hikes with a phased increase and to exempt projects that already have county approval. The bill was based on the report of a council-appointed advisory committee that included former County Executive Robert Neall and development, environmental and affordable housing representatives.

Under the revised bill, a 200,000-square-foot building would be assessed a total of $8,803 in impact fees to help pay for roads, schools and public safety. That is more than quadruple the $1,386 in fees assessed under the current schedule effective July 1. The bill was amended to phase in the new schedule, so that a 200,000-square-foot building would face fees of $3,522 until July 1, 2010, when the full $8,803 levy would take effect.

"The amendment begins with 40 percent of what the experts recommended but the total amount would be the same once it is phased in," said Amy Tate, the council's legislative counsel.

Under the amended bill, the current fee schedule would still apply for projects that received sketch plan approval or site development plan approval by Tuesday of this week.

A third amendment to the bill scrapped a clause that could have imposed thousands of dollars in fees on private-property owners who enlarge their home.

Each of the amendments passed the Republican-majority council by a 6-1 vote, suggesting that the final bill will pass later this month.

"It could pass after the public hearing unless it is amended again, which is always a possibility," Tate said.

Struggling with BRAC

Anne Arundel — already beset by budget shortfalls due to the housing market collapse and slowdown in commercial development — has been scrambling to find revenue to pay for infrastructure needs. Already overburdened roads will grow more crowded as thousands of new military and civilian jobs come to Fort Meade and surrounding areas as a result of the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure program.

The council's advisory task force found that current impact fees are the lowest in the state and currently generate only 22 percent of the cost of new development.

The push for increasing impact fees came after Leopold and the council sought approval from the General Assembly this spring to increase real estate transfer taxes from 1 percent to 1.5 percent. But the county's delegation refused to vote on the matter, so it died.

At the same time, the county is negotiating final details of an arrangement with Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas, which has the contract to build a 1.7 million-square-foot office campus at Fort Meade.

Under an enhanced use lease agreement announced in July between Trammell, Fort Meade and the Army Corps of Engineers, the company will be required to help pay for county infrastructure impacts through a payment in lieu of taxes. The General Assembly passed a bill this year that subjects any such lease to property taxes.

Telvent Farradyne signs

lease for Rockville space

Global software company Telvent Farradyne will occupy the entire second floor of a Rockville office building that Washington Property Co. of Bethesda bought last year, the developer said.

Telvent will take 36,255 square feet at 1390 Piccard Drive in the I-270 corridor. The company is consolidating its local offices now spread throughout 3206 Tower Oaks Blvd. in Rockville.

"This transaction confirms 1390 Piccard's position in the market of providing headquarter-style finishes and operational layout efficiencies within a value rent structure," said Charles K. Nulsen III, president of Washington Property, in a statement.

The company bought the three-story, 102,000-square-foot building last year for $16.6 million. Washington Property has completed $2.6 million in renovations of the property, which was built in 1980.

Indian university plans

Hagerstown campus

Vinayaka Missions America University Inc. announced the purchase of the Friendship Office building and surrounding 45-acre campus in Hagerstown for $8.5 million.

The school will invest $3.5 million more to create a campus dedicated to a nursing program, representatives said during a press conference Aug. 26. Other programs might include the study of homeopathy, yoga and ayurveda, a branch of Indian medicine. All credit and non-credit courses will be open to the general public. The school hopes to eventually develop a state-of-the-art medical facility to possibly include a trauma center.

Located at 10435 Downsville Pike, the facility was the former Allegheny Energy-Potomac Edison headquarters.

The university is an international educational organization founded in 1981, in Salem, India. It has 27 colleges, including four teaching hospitals, with more than 3,000 staff members and 15,000 students in satellite institutions in Europe, Australia and North America.

First Potomac renews

leases with Iron Mountain

First Potomac Realty Trust of Bethesda has signed two 10-year renewal leases with Iron Mountain Information Management in the region.

One of the leases is for about 120,000 square feet at First Potomac's 4451 Georgia Pacific Blvd. property in Frederick, and the other is for about 70,000 square feet at First Potomac's 403 Glenn Drive property in Sterling, Va.

The Frederick property is a 170,000-square-foot industrial building that sits directly off Route 85 and less than 3 miles from Interstate 270 and 10 miles from I-70. The Sterling Park Business Center is near Dulles International Airport. The complex includes five existing buildings totaling about 377,000 square feet, and a recently completed 57,000-square-foot flex building, with developable land that can accommodate up to an additional 500,000 square feet.

Three firms sign leases

in Glen Arm building

A new warehouse-office building in Baltimore County has signed three tenants taking up about one-third of the space, said developer, Manekin of Columbia.

The 200,000-square-foot property is at 5200 Glen Arm Road in the Long Green Valley, just north of the Cromwell Bridge Road exit of the Baltimore Beltway in Glen Arm.

Sensor Concepts leased 25,000 square feet; Overhead Crane leased 21,300 square feet and United Container leased 15,000 square feet.

MCF Capital, a Baltimore real estate investment partnership, acquired the property in May from United Container. United Container had utilized the plant for many years to produce equipment used in making corrugated boxes.

Manekin vice president David Paulson led the negotiations, along with Manekin senior sales and leasing associate Vince Brocato, representing United Container in a direct transaction with MCF Capital. The Manekin team is representing the new owner in leasing the property.

"This property is a diamond in the rough and an unusual commodity in northern Baltimore County," Paulson said, noting that it is ideal for a variety of tenants, ranging from office users to companies needing crane service, manufacturing space and-or storage facilities.

With 165,000 square feet of warehouse space, plus about 35,000 square feet of office space on two floors, the building offers high ceilings, heavy electrical service; dock and drive-in access; an extensive crane inventory and extensive on-site parking.

Manekin also has delivered a 42,300-square-foot medical office condominium building at 7300 Hanover Road in Greenbelt.

WRIT buys The Kenmore

for $58.3 million

Washington Real Estate Investment Trust of Rockville has acquired The Kenmore, a 374-unit, 270,000-square-foot apartment building in Northwest Washington, D.C., for $58.3 million.

The property is in the affluent submarket near Friendship Heights and Chevy Chase, according to WRIT information, and provides a prime location convenient to downtown Washington and suburban Maryland.

The property is 96 percent leased and has 145 parking spaces. WRIT expects to achieve a first-year, unleveraged yield of 6.2 percent. The acquisition was funded with borrowings on WRIT's line of credit and cash from operations.

Commercial real estate news items may be mailed to: Steve Monroe, The Business Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; e-mailed to smonroe@gazette.net; or faxed to 301-670-7183.