Industrial Properties Sell in the Baltimore Area

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Baltimore’s industrial market has started 2013 strong, with three proprieties recently sold for a total of around $35 million. According to a report released in January by CBRE for last year’s fourth quarter, industrial sales in the Baltimore market in 2012 are on a path to exceed sales from the previous year by 20 percent.

1021 Swan Creek Drive, a Class A industrial property leased by Nissan North America, has been sold for $13.5 million. Hartz Mountain Industries has purchased the property in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood from Swan Creek 5R LLC, a subsidiary of the Belt’s Corp. CBRE arranged the sale.

The building is located in the Marley Neck Industrial Park, just minutes from the Port of Baltimore. Both downtown Washington and downtown Baltimore are within easy reach. The 154,400-square-foot warehouse has 29 loading docks.

CBRE First Vice President Jonathan H. Beard and CBRE Senior Vice President Robert T. “Bo” Cashman represented The Belt’s Corporation in the transaction. CBRE Senior Vice President John Wilhide also assisted the sale.

9060 Junction Drive, a 144,571-square-foot distribution warehouse in Annapolis Junction, MD was sold to Boston-based TA Associates Realty for $8.25 million. Emory Properties was the seller. The warehouse 48 percent leased.

TA Associates Realty also acquired a 205,000 square foot industrial warehouse in Jessup, MD. It paid $13.7 million for the fully leased property at 8125 Stayton Drive to Stayton Associates.

Jonathan M. Carpenter and James S. Wellschlager of Cassidy Turley’s Capital Markets Group represented both Emory Properties and Stayton Associates in the transactions mentioned above.

The Baltimore metro area remains attractive for industrial users and investors due to its low unemployment, close proximity to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, and ease of access to the Port of Baltimore. CBRE reports that although the overall vacancy rate in the area increased from 10.3 to 11.1 percent, largely due to move-outs by bulk users, the outlook still remains optimistic because of new leases and expansions by larger warehouse users like Recall Total Information Management, AFP, Sleepy’s and Proctor & Gamble.

Charts courtesy of CBRE.