Groundbreaking for building in the Maryland Food Centerin Jessup, Maryland, featuring 32 foot clear ceiling heights, scheduled for spring 2019 with delivery expected to occur before end of next year

MRP Industrial, a full-service, privately-held commercial real estate development and investment company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, together with investment partner Clarion Partners LLC, have announced the acquisition of an 11-acre site situated in the Jessup section of Howard County, Maryland from GLP Development for an undisclosed price. The group intends to break ground in spring 2019 on a speculative 175,200 square foot warehouse/industrial project, with delivery expected to occur before the end of next year. The site is located at 7951 OceanoAvenue within the Maryland Food Center near the intersection of MD Route 175 and US Route 1. Mark Levy, Executive Managing Director and Market Leader of JLL represented the seller in this transaction.

“Tenant and investor demand for industrial and warehouse product in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor, as well as nationally, has shown no signs of subsiding and we expect continued momentum in this product category based on existing fundamentals,” explained D. Reid Townsend, Principal of MRP Industrial.“Our team has initiated the marketing process for this highly-flexible building that has been designed to meet the specific real estate needs of companies engaged with logistics, e-fulfillment, manufacturing and warehousing. The Combined Statistical Area of the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area is approaching 10 million people, which ranks third nationally, and makes this site extremely appealing to satisfy the next day or same day delivery requirements of the American consumer.”

MRP Industrial plans to construct the single-story building on a site that formerly contained a Class B,244,000 square foot block and metal warehouse, which collapsed from structural failure after a heavy snow storm in 2016. The sustainable development program calls for recycling of existing materials, and the construction of a new energy efficient, rail served, concrete tilt-wall building featuring 32-foot clear ceiling heights, LED lighting, 37 trailer stalls, a 180-foot truck court to support the movement of large tractor trailers and two parking fields containing 135 vehicle spaces.

“This in-fill project represents the unique opportunity to develop in an extremely land-constrained marketplace and deliver a modern Class A building with unrivaled access in the heart of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor,” Townsend added. “We proactively decided to reduce the size of the building footprint by nearly 30% to increase green space for office employees, create the safety of segregated automobile and truck parking and added a generous quantity of off-building trailer stalls for secured overnight parking. These critical design features are too often overlooked as developers push boundaries to maximize building size versus delivering projects with a long-term perspective on value preservation”.

“The availability of this Class A, modern building will provide new options for companies seeking a flight to quality, in a market flooded with 1980s-eraproduct. End-users will now have access to new energy-efficient construction without compromising location and access required for logistics efficiencies,” said Lisa A. Goodwin, Senior Vice President of MRP Industrial.

7951 OceanoAvenue is positioned within minutes from a number of major highways including Interstate 95 and MD Routes 32 and 295. The site is approximately 11 miles from Baltimore-Washington International Airport;15 miles from Baltimore City; 17 miles from the Port of Baltimore; 32 miles from Washington, D.C.; 34 miles from Reagan Washington National Airport; and 50 miles from Washington, Dulles International Airport.

The Maryland Food Center is a public and private partnership developed by The Maryland Food Center Authority that features a number of large-scale distribution operations, including those operated by SYSCO Food Services, Lancaster Foods and Terminal Corporation. More than 3000 employees work in the center on a daily basis. Several weeks ago, the parent company of Domino Sugar revealed plans to lease more than 300,000 square feet of space within The Maryland Food Center, in a warehouse building formerly used by Giant Food.

According to research recently compiled by Lee & Associates | Maryland, the vacancy level for industrial real estate buildings in the greater Baltimore metropolitan region dropped from 8.2% in second quarter 2018 to 7.7% in the third quarter with positive net absorption of nearly 2.4 million square feet of space. This includes the absorption of nearly two million square feet of space for Class “A” product.

The present-day e-commerce growth that has been among the major drivers of the warehouse and industrial building construction and leasing activity, began in 2013 and is exhibiting no signs of peaking, suggests a story that appeared in Supply Chain Dive. Typical real estate cycles last seven to eight years, according to the story, and rental rates are also rising in reflection of tight inventory levels.

“The availability of highly-skilled labor needed for modern logistics operations remains a significant factor in real estate decisions and this region out-performs most sections of the country,” added Goodwin of MRP. “With more than 320,000 residents, Howard County features among the most educated workforces in the nation, with approximately 5% of the population currently involved in production, transportation or material moving.”

JLL has been selected as the exclusive leasing broker for 7951 Oceano Avenue, with Ben Meisels, Managing Director, Brokerage handling the requirement on behalf of the firm.

Founded in 2013, MRP Industrial focuses on strategic investments in core industrial markets and high growth submarkets across the northeastern section of the United States. The company specializes in the acquisition, development, financing and leasing of industrial real estate. MRP Industrial’s institutional capital partners and corporate clients are provided with a full array of real estate development options, including build-to-suit development, fee development services, speculative investment and value-add acquisitions. MRP industrial is considered among the most active developers within its target submarkets, having developed 32 buildings comprising nearly twelvemillion square feet of space. Visit www.mrpindustrial.com

Clarion Partners LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser with FCA-authorized and FINRA member affiliates, has been a leading U.S. real estate investment manager for more than 36 years. Headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, London, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. With more than $47.8 billion in total assets under management, Clarion Partners offers a broad range of real estate strategies across the risk/return spectrum to its more than 350 domestic and international institutional investors. More information about the firm is available at www.clarionpartners.com