Real Estate Weekly - 4/26/13 | Maryland Daily Record

Parade of Homes to showcase affordable housing in B-W region

The Communications Action Network is hosting the Baltimore-Washington region?s first-ever affordable communities Parade of Homes on May 18, 2013, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Communities throughout Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia will open their doors to the public. Designed to illustrate the importance of housing affordability to the health and vitality of the local economy, the event will feature affordable single-family homes, multifamily rental housing and homeownership communities in close proximity to local job centers. For more information on the Parade of Homes, go to www.caninitiative.org.

Century Engineering acquires Frostburg?s Dugan Associates

Century Engineering Inc., of Hunt Valley, acquired Dugan Associates of Frostburg for an undisclosed amount. The firm is engaged in the environmental and operational permitting of open pit mines and other industrial land-use sites in Maryland and West Virginia. Services rendered included site design, sediment control and storm water design, survey of excavated areas, stockpiles and volumes of product, groundwater testing and reporting, design of reclamation areas, re-forestation, and other structural and environmental engineering. Century officials said they would continue and expand these services, drawing on not only Dugan Associates but also Century?s own office in Oakland.

New affordable apartment complex opens in Irvington

The Greens at Irvington Mews, a 100-unit affordable apartment complex developed by Enterprise Homes Inc., held its official grand opening on Monday. The newly constructed, $16 million development, located at 4300 Frederick Ave. in Baltimore, features 82 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom apartments for low- and moderatge-income seniors and adults with disabilities. The four-story building, designed by Hord Coplan Macht and constructed by Harkins Builders, is located in southwest Baltimore on a site that once served as the Irvington Loop for the No. 8 trolley line. The project is built to the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria and meets the standards for both LEED Silver mid-rise and Energy Star multifamily high-rise residential buildings.

Baltimore County to hold meeting on public housing, community development

Baltimore County has invited interested persons to attend a public meeting and express their views on its draft plans for addressing housing needs and other community development matters. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Planning Department hearing room, 105 W. Chesapeake Ave, Towson. The county has released two plans for public review and comment: (1) the Public Housing Agency Plan, which deals with the five-year period 2010-2014; and (2) the Annual Action Plan for 2014. The plans are available online at http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/neighborhoodimprovement/index.html for the Action Plan, and http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/socialservices/housingassistance/ for the Public Housing Agency Plan. They may also be viewed at county libraries, and at the respective agencies (Planning Department for the Action Plan and the Housing Office for the Public Housing plan).

Donated home valued at $475K to be raffled

A couple in Frederick County has donated a house worth $475,000 to the Middletown High School to raffle off in hopes of raising $1 million or more to go toward the renovation of the school?s football field and athletic facilities. The house has four bedrooms, 3? baths and a two-car garage. Middletown is in Frederick County, about 50 miles from Washington. The donors, Mark and Donna Gaver, are graduates and former athletes at Middletown High School, and understand the school?s desire to improve its athletic facilities. The Middletown High School Sports Club hopes to sell 15,000 tickets at $100 apiece with the ?Middletown Dream Home? as the prize. The drawing will be held on June 13 at Hollow Creek Golf Club in Middletown. To purchase raffle coupons, call 301-371-3502 or visit www.middletowndreamhome.com.

Placement of 5-ton cupola tops off new building at McDonogh School

The Edward St. John Learning Center, a 75,000-square-foot building currently under construction at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, was ?topped off? last week when the contractor, the Lutherville-based Mullan Contracting Co., placed a five-ton cupola on the roof of the four-story structure. The Learning Center features flexible spaces to accommodate dining, classes, meetings, lectures, grade-level gatherings and special events. The 30-foot-high, 12-foot-wide octagonal cupola was constructed by the Cheyenne Co., of Bloomfield, Conn. Concurrently, Mullan is also erecting the Naylor Building, a three-story, 56,000-square-foot structure containing primarily science, technology, engineering and math classrooms. McDonogh, a coeducational, private day and boarding school, has a current enrollment of nearly 1,300 students.

Three Anne Arundel companies donate walkway to nonprofit

Providence Center, a nonprofit organization in Glen Burnie that serves adults with developmental disabilities, unveiled a new walkway at its Jean Bradbury Building greenhouses in Arnold. The walkway was donated by Chaney Enterprises of Waldorf, Belgard Hardscapes of Harmans, and Garner Exteriors of Lothian as part of a do-it-yourself demonstration for installing pavers to nearly two dozen homeowners last Saturday. The approximate value of the new walkway is more than $8000, the entire cost of which was donated by the three companies. ?It?s always great to work on projects like this that will benefit an important nonprofit like Providence Center,? said Garner Exteriors? David Jochnowitz. Providence Center operates four facilities in Anne Arundel County to provide nearly 500 developmentally challenged adults with skills such as horticulture, woodshop and pottery.

Workshops to examine redevelopment along 5-mile stretch of Pulaski Highway

Baltimore County is holding a series of workshops to examine potential redevelopment scenarios for 920 acres in Middle River, along a five-mile segment of Pulaski Highway (US 40). Input from community residents, businesses and property owners will help craft a long-term vision that could guide redevelopment over the next 25 years. Decisions about whether or when to redevelop property will be made by property owners. Meetings will be held at Rosedale Baptist Church, 9202 Philadelphia Road, on May 4, May 13, May 16 and May 18. The first and last meetings will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., while the second and third meetings will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to Jackie MacMillan at jmacmillan@baltimorecountymd.gov.

AB Realty partners on building acquisition

A joint venture owned by Alex. Brown Realty Inc., of Baltimore, and Fulcrum Asset Advisors LLC, of Chicago, has acquired the U.S. Cellular Building in Madison, Wis. ABR Chesapeake Fund IV, a value-added real estate fund sponsored by ABR, invested $3.1 million in the venture. The four-story, Class A, suburban office building was built in 1996 and contains 101,925 square feet. U.S. Cellular is the main tenant in the building, which is currently 73 percent occupied. A new tenant has signed a lease that will increase occupancy to 80 percent by end of April. More leases are expected to be signed over the next 18-24 months, bringing the building to full occupancy.

Realtor to head Maryland GOP

Diana Waterman, a Queen Anne?s County Realtor, has been elected chairwoman of the Maryland Republican Party. Waterman was elected Saturday at the party?s spring convention in Timonium. She will serve out the term of Alex Mooney, a former state senator who announced in February that he was stepping down from the post. Waterman has been serving as interim chairwoman. She told The Washington Post that she is committed to making the party more competitive. Democrats hold a 2-to-1 advantage in voter registration statewide. The Democrat party also holds the governor?s office and controls both chambers of the state legislature by wide margins.

Students document W.Md. historic sites

Photography students at Allegany College of Maryland are documenting historic buildings in Cumberland with help from the Maryland Historical Trust. The state agency has awarded the city a $7,200 grant to create a photographic record of historic assets. City officials say students in a digital photography class at the college are working this month on the project. They?re photographing buildings in the downtown Canal Place Preservation District and the West Side. Canal Place is a tourism development near the western end of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

ODEC plans electricity plant in Cecil

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, of Glen Allen, Va., a wholesale power supplier, said it is planning to build a state-of-the-art, natural gas-fueled, electric generation facility in Cecil County. The plant would be built five miles west of Rising Sun, adjacent to ODEC?s existing Rock Springs Generation Facility, which became operational in 2003. Plans call for the plant to start operating in 2017. ODEC said it is currently working with Cecil County government on the proposal and will apply in May for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Maryland Public Service Commission. ODEC?s 11 nonprofit electric distribution cooperatives serve 1.2 million people in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.

Baltimore County gaining new apartments

Enterprise, a Columbia-based nonprofit affordable housing developer and investor, announced the closing of almost $30 million in federal, state and private financing for two new affordable senior apartments totaling 192 units in Baltimore County. The $15.2 million Greens at Logan Field will offer 102 one- and two-bedroom apartments in the Dundalk neighborhood, and the $14.6 million Greens at English Consul will offer 90 units, also one- and two-bedroom, in the Lansdowne/Baltimore Highlands area. Both developments are aimed at seniors earning 60 percent of the area median income and below. Construction at both projects began on April 1, and will take about a year to complete.

Accokeek building to set high standard

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for an energy-efficient building in Prince George?s County. Prince George?s County Executive Rushern Baker and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown were among officials scheduled to attend the ceremony in Accokeek for the Potomac Watershed Study Center. The building is being touted as one of the most environmentally friendly in the world. When it is finished, supporters say it will take green buildings to a new level by being a net-zero water, net-zero energy and carbon neutral facility. It?s the region?s first Living Building. Now, there are only three certified Living Buildings in the world.

PERSONNEL?

Terry Burns

Terry Burns, a senior associate at the Baltimore landscape architectural firm of Mahan Rykiel Associates, has been named as the inaugural winner of the firm?s first annual Founder?s Travel Fund. The fund was established by Catherine Mahan, the now-retired founder and president of MRA. Mahan said she wanted to give something lasting to the firm when she retired, and thought that landscape architects could benefit from travel and the insights they gained from seeing a broad range of built and natural landscapes in the U.S. and abroad. Burns will spend the next year exploring the Prairie School style of landscape design, which focuses on elements of visual expression through natural materials. He has planned trips to cities in the East and Midwest, as well as visits to projects by well-known landscape architects.

Jones Lang LaSalle, a national real estate services and investment management firm, announced that Mark G. Levy has assumed an additional role as head of the firm?s Baltimore operations. Levy will be responsible for managing and overseeing all company service lines and driving strategic growth in the Baltimore region. Levy joined JLL in October 2012 as a senior vice president, leading the firm?s Mid-Atlantic Industrial Practice Group, which comprises the entire spectrum of industrial services including agency and tenant representation, site selection and investment sales. He will continue in his current role as the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Practice group leader, with a three-tiered focus on industrial investor services, capital markets and corporate representation.

LEASES?

Republic Foods Inc. signed a 10?-year lease for 3,345 square feet of space at The Tower Building in Rockville to house its new corporate headquarters. The deal marks the company?s move from Bethesda to Rockville. The Tower Cos., of Rockville, is the owner of the 10-story, 276,000-square-foot office building, which opened in 2001 and was the D.C. area?s first green building. Republic Foods, established in 1982, is a franchise of Burger King Corp., which owns and operates over 20 restaurants in downtown Washington, D.C., Prince George?s, Anne Arundel and Calvert counties. Steve Hubberman of Serten Advisors represented Republic Foods and Andrea ?Andy? Regan, Kevin McGloon and Peter Rosen of Cushman Wakefield represented the building?s owner.

Merritt Properties LLC reported the following recently signed leases:

* Arett Sales Corp., a company specializing in Christmas tree lighting sales, signed a lease for 10,200 square feet of space (8,000 office, 2,200 warehouse) at Baltimore Commons, 7484 Candlewood Road, in Hanover. Jim Carrona of KLNB represented Arett. Merritt was represented by its in-house leasing team of Jamie Campbell, Liz Tarran-Jones, Vince Bagli and Steve Shaw.

* 180? LLC, a flooring vendor, leased 14,400 square feet of showroom space at Pulaski Business Park, 9601 Pulaski Park Drive, in Middle River. 180? was represented in the lease negotiations by Ketch Secor of CBRE. Merritt Properties? in-house leasing team of Pat Franklin, Whit Levering, Lou Boeri and Ashley Combs represented the landlord.

* All Staffing Inc., a provider of full-line staffing for health care companies in Maryland, leased 4,110 square feet of office space at 10711 Red Run Blvd. in Owings Mills. Negotiations were conducted by Pat Franklin, Whit Levering, Lou Boeri and Ashley Combs of Merritt Properties, representing the landlord of the property.

Source: http://thedailyrecord.com/2013/04/26/real-estate-weekly-42613/

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