Baltimore, MD (March 4, 2019) – Merritt Properties, a full-service commercial real estate and property management firm with locations in Maryland and Northern Virginia, ended 2018 with 175 new lease transactions totaling 1.5 million square feet and 284 renewal deals totaling 2.9 million square feet. This activity marks the company’s highest numbers in five years and includes bulk, light industrial, office and retail product.
Southwest Baltimore and the BWI corridor saw the largest amount of leasing activity. In Southwest Baltimore, over 211,000 square feet of new leases and over 733,000 square feet of renewals were signed, and in the BWI corridor, over 294,000 square feet of new leases and over 336,000 square feet of renewals were signed.
The largest office leases were located in Columbia, Md. An undisclosed insurance company is leasing 66,000 square feet at Merritt’s Meadowridge 95 and Data Computer Corporation of America signed a lease for 19,000 square feet at Columbia Corporate Park.
Increased demand for industrial product was reflected in leasing success at Merritt’s newly constructed I-66 Business Park in Manassas, Va. Structural Technologies moved into 23,000 square feet of space within the park’s Building 6, a National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) award-winning bulk building. The building features 32-foot clear heights, which are 4-8 feet higher than standard industrial buildings in the market, and the site accommodates parking for up to 30 trucks with 50-foot bays, which are 10-20 feet wider than the norm.
A total of 265,200 square feet went under construction at Merritt’s I-66 Business Park in 2018 and in its first year on the market, 61% has been leased.
In Joppa, Md., Bizerba expanded their warehouse by 25,400 square feet to increase their retail weighing, labeling and food processing operations. They now occupy a total of 103,000 square feet.
“Throughout our Maryland and Virginia portfolio, Merritt was fortunate to see strong leasing activity from a variety of industry segments,” said Scott Dorsey, CEO of Merritt Properties. “We also recorded the highest amount of renewed square feet in five years, which speaks to our ability to deliver outstanding customer service.”
In late 2018, Merritt began redeveloping a 60,000-square-foot Class A office building at Owings Mills Corporate Campus, 10065 Red Run Boulevard. New amenities are enhancing leasing efforts and nearly a third of the building has been pre-leased. Three new customers—Choice Cybersecurity, CompuGroup Medical and Federal Specialized Services—will occupy 19,000 square feet of space by the end of Q1 2019.
In southwest Baltimore County, at Merritt’s Beltway Business Park, 75,000 square feet of construction was completed during the course of the year between 1705 and 1715 Twin Springs Road. To date, 1705 is fully leased and 33,000 square feet is available to lease at 1715.
Release courtesy Merritt Properties