Private development around Aberdeen Proving Ground gained momentum with the start of two new office buildings to meet demand under the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure program and Harford County bond support for housing revenue bonds.
The latest move came Monday with the groundbreaking of Corporate Office Properties Trust's second Class A office building at its North Gate Business Park, which is just outside the base at Route 22 and Interstate 95. The complex is designed to meet expectations of 3 million square feet of new office space that will be needed for military and private contractors under BRAC.
The Columbia company laid out an aggressive development schedule in presentations to stock analysts last month. One 78,220-square-foot building already under construction is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2010, with another in the third quarter of next year and a third to follow in the first quarter of 2011. Combined, they will total about 290,000 square feet of office space, with construction costs in excess of $64.8 million. When complete, the 56-acre North Gate is expected to have about 800,000 square feet of office space and as much as 25,000 square feet of retail.
The new COPT building start comes a week after the groundbreaking for a 75,000-square-foot office building for military contractor Raytheon by Baltimore's St. John Properties. The property, scheduled for completion in a year, is one of seven buildings totaling more than 380,000 square feet that St. John plans to develop inside Aberdeen Proving Ground for the base's Government and Technology Enterprise, a research and development and technology business park for the government sector and private contractors. St. John already owns a new 60,000-square-foot building that it bought last month as part of the bankruptcy liquidation of Opus East.
When completed, the complex within the borders of the base could reach 3 million square feet of space to make room for the 6,000 new government jobs and 12,000 private-sector jobs the base expansion is expected to create.
Harford approves private housing finance plan
Aberdeen Proving Ground also is undergoing a private redevelopment of its military housing, which got a financing boost last month from Harford County.
The County Council approved an economic development revenue bond at Aberdeen not to exceed $65 million that will support the joint project under development by the Army and Picerne Military Housing of North Kingston, R.I. The project calls for Picerne's plan to include constructing 210 new homes and renovating an additional 162 units in and around the base at a cost of $85 million.
Although the revenue bonds will be issued by the county, they will not place any demands on the credit or taxing powers of Harford or the state. The debt will be paid off by revenue generated by the military housing project, Harford County Executive David R. Craig (R) emphasized before the vote.
"Providing cost-effective housing and attractive housing for military families that live on post here in Harford County is also in the best interest of the county," Craig said. "Therefore, Harford County government supports the Picerne Project at [Aberdeen] and we look forward to helping to bring this initiative to fruition in the near future, once again at no cost to the taxpayers of Harford County."
Kentlands apartment community sells for $34.5M
Beacon Place in Gaithersburg has sold for $34.5 million, according to Ideal Realty Group, which brokered the deal.
The 240-unit, luxury garden complex in the Kentlands mixed-use community was sold by J.P. Morgan to Vanoff Enterprises of Los Angeles. Ideal Realty Group also has a contract signed on Crystal Park, a 314-unit rental complex in Frederick.
CBRE snags Columbia leasing assignment
CB Richard Ellis announced that it has been awarded a medical office leasing assignment totaling about 158,420 square feet from Montecito Medical Investment of Santa Barbara, Calif.
The contract covers the Knoll I & II medical office project, which Montecito acquired in 2007 for $24.5 million. The properties, at 5450 and 5500 Knoll North Drive, Columbia, are anchored by tenants affiliated with Johns Hopkins University Hospital.
In other news, CB Richard Ellis Group also was chosen as Maryland‘s real estate broker.
The state Board of Public Works chose the firm as the state's real estate brokerage service provider for the next three years, under a contract that began Sept. 1.
The firm said it will assist the state with the more than 4.7 million square feet of real estate it leases across Maryland. This contract represents the first time that Maryland has outsourced these services into one contract.
"Many well-qualified candidates submitted bids in response to the request for proposals," said Michael A. Gaines Sr., assistant secretary for real estate for the state Department of General Services, in a statement. "After a thorough review, it was determined that CB Richard Ellis was overall the most well qualified to respond to the needs of the State."
All CBRE support activities will be managed by the department's Office of Real Estate. Over the last three years, its Lease Management and Procurement unit saved the state almost $7 million as it negotiated 275 leases valued at $174 million, according to state government information. The state's current office/storage rent is $73 million annually.
The CB Richard Ellis Maryland account management team will be based in Baltimore and will be led by account manager Mike Williams.
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.
