Weeks Robinson Grabs 600 KSF Suburban Baltimore Warehouse, Land for $19.1M

August 29, 2011
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Weeks Robinson continues to capitalize on the distressed real estate marketplace with the acquisition of Trade Center 95, an industrial asset consisting of a vacant 600,000-square-foot warehouse and 32 acres of developable land in the City of North East in Cecil County, Md. The industrial real estate and investment firm purchased the property, located 40 miles north of Baltimore in the I-95 North Corridor, from Quality Properties Asset Management Co. for approximately $19.1 million.

CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented the seller in the transaction. The commercial real estate services firm had marketed the property for $24 million — $21 million for the building and $3 million for the land.

Trade Center 95 was constructed in 2007 by Champion Partners Group Ltd., which developed the project with a financing package that included $7.4 million in joint venture equity with NDC Capital Partners and a $24.8 million construction loan through LaSalle Bank. Champion had originally planned Trade Center 95 as a two-phase project. Phase I resulted in the 600,000-square-foot warehouse on 42 acres. Phase II never commenced, alas, there are 32 acres on which the new owner has the option to build an additional 600,000 square feet of industrial space.

Weeks Robinson has kicked off a marketing campaign to lease up the existing warehouse, primarily targeting logistics users. The metropolitan Baltimore industrial market is in rebound mode and the I-95 North Corridor is no exception. According to commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc., from the first to the second quarter of this year, the vacancy rate for warehouse/distribution properties dropped from 10.3 percent to 9.3 percent.

The purchase of Trade Center 95 marked just one of many acquisitions the company has recently completed in the distressed real estate market. Its purchases this year include a 506,000 square-foot property and an 828,000 square-foot asset the Dallas area, as well as a 240,000 square-foot build-to-suit distribution center in Jacksonville, Fla.