Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc. Announces $9,000,000 Financing On Over 150,000 SF Spread Across 3, Single- Tenant Industrial Buildings in Michigan.

Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc. has funded a first mortgage loan for $9,000,000 with a repeat borrower based in Bethesda, MD. The loan, provided by a regional bank, is a 5 year loan that will be swapped at closing to provide a competitive 5-year fixed rate loan.

The subject properties are 3 separate buildings spread across Michigan. A 74,026 square foot building in Pontiac, a 26,571 square foot building in Farmington Hills, and a 51,138 square foot building in Bay City.

This is Maverick’s third time closing a loan with this client. The borrower, 1788 Holdings, LLC, is a Maryland based national real estate investment firm specializing in purchasing and repositioning older vintage light industrial properties and industrial outdoor storage prop- erties.

About Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc.

Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc., arranges a wide variety of commercial real estate loans ranging from $2,000,000 to $100,000,000 for its middle market real estate developer and investor clients.

Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc. Announces $7,500,000 Financing On a 150,000 SF Multi-Tenant Industrial Building in Chicago, IL.

Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc. has funded a first mortgage loan for $7,500,000 with a repeat borrower based in Bethesda, MD. The loan, provided by a regional bank, is a 5 year loan that will be swapped at closing to provide a competitive 5-year fixed rate loan. A por- tion of the loan proceeds will be used for capital improvements to the property post closing.

The subject property is a fully occupied multi-tenant industrial building on Chicago’s south side. The building is 100% leased to 2 ten- ants, Chicago Transit Authority and SCR Transportation. The industrial market on the south side is effectively close to full occupancy

This is Maverick’s second time closing a loan with this client. Maverick financed the closing of the adjacent properties with this borrower allowing for the creation of an industrial park by this borrower. The borrower, 1788 Holdings, LLC, is a Maryland based national real es- tate investment firm specializing in purchasing and repositioning older vintage light industrial properties and industrial outdoor storage properties.

About Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc.

Maverick Commercial Mortgage, Inc., arranges a wide variety of commercial real estate loans ranging from $2,000,000 to $100,000,000 for its middle market real estate developer and investor clients.

1788/Riverside Business Center, Llc Sells 423,900 Square Foot Riverside Business Center In Whitehall, Pa To Buligo Capital Partners For $34.65 Million

Former owner of single-story light industrial building, located at 1139 Lehigh Avenue, increased occupancy of warehouse component of asset from 87% to 100%

Bethesda, MD (April 11, 2022) – 1788/Riverside Business Center, LLC, an affiliate of 1788 Holdings, LLC., a Bethesda, Maryland-based real estate investment company, has sold Riverside Business Center, a 423,900 square foot single-story light industrial building in Whitehall, Pennsylvania to Buligo Capital Partners for $34.65 million. 1788/Riverside Business Center acquired the asset, located at 1139 Lehigh Avenue, in 2018 for $11.65 million and increased the occupancy of the warehouse component of the project from 87% to its current 100% during its four-year hold period. Michael Hines of CBRE’sRadnor/Philadelphia office represented the seller in this transaction.

“We were initially attracted to Riverside Business Center based on the unique opportunity to acquire a high-quality Class B light industrial property that was substantially leased with in-place rents significantly below market, as well as the compelling opportunity to build significant value with a strategic capital investment program, aggressive leasing effort and cost-efficient property management strategy,” stated Larry J. Goodwin, Principal, 1788 Holdings. “The property contained every fundamental necessary to achieve this objective, led by an irreplaceable location, a strong tenant base and the extreme acceleration in demand for industrial, light manufacturing and warehouse space throughout the Lehigh Valley corridor.”  

Riverside Business Center overview

Constructed in 1910, Riverside Business Center has been improved and renovated on numerous occasions, including the investment of more than $9 million by the previous owner in 2006 to convert the property from a single-user manufacturing facility into a multi-tenanted warehouse and light manufacturing facility. The conversion included the installation of 31 dock doors and 23 drive-in doors, the installment of modernized HVAC and lighting and plumbing systems, substantial improvement to all tenant suites, a complete exterior brick and concrete makeover and parking lot upgrades.

Positioned on approximately 34 acres of land, Riverside Business Center features average ceiling heights of 20 feet, the availability of ample automobile and truck parking and a dry sprinkler fire protection system. Abutting the Lehigh River, the center is located adjacent to Lehigh Valley Thruway (US Route 22), with immediate access to Interstate 78 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Lehigh Valley International Airport is less than three miles from the site, while Philadelphia is approximately 60 miles south and New York City is approximately 90 miles west of the project. This location places the asset within a one-day truck drive to approximately one-third of all consumers residing in the United States.   

Summary of value enhancement strategy executed during the hold period

1788 Holdings implemented a series of value enhancement strategies during its hold period from March 2018 to March 2022, including physical plant upgrades, rehabilitating an abandoned second floor of the office structure to allow the recapture of 13,000 square feet of office space, adding wayfinding signage, creating fenced-in outside storage areas for certain tenants and repointing and repainting the exterior. In addition, the new ownership established relationships with existing tenants, the local brokerage community and officials of Whitehall Township. In several instances, discretionary investments were made to upgrade tenant premises prior to lease expirations, and those decisions were rewarded with renewals from those tenants.

As the COVID-19 crisis took effect, 1788 Holdings worked closely with Riverside Business Center tenants to provide financial assistance, if needed, during the period of uncertainty. This included offering rent relief or rent abatement, allowing certain tenants to execute short-term leases, and permitting others to give back space while they navigated business challenges.

“Real estate is a relationship-driven industry and our first order of business upon acquiring Riverside Business Center was to develop open lines of communication with our tenants, and demonstrate that we have their interests in mind at all times,” Goodwin explained. “This corporate mission was validated during the height of the pandemic when several tenants faced unprecedented challenges and uncertainty, and we responded with concessions that assisted with their recovery. As companies achieved normalcy, our actions paid dividends with longer-term renewals, as well as higher lease rates to new entities signing leases at Riverside Business Center.”  

Seizing the opportunity to sell in response to market conditions

1788 Holdings acquired Riverside Business Center in 2018 at just over $27 per square foot, a price which represented less than 30% of the property’s replacement cost, and rental prices in the Lehigh Valley submarket averaged approximately $3.00 per square foot at the time of the acquisition. Although the plan was to hold the asset for 10 years, 1788 Holdings began exploring a possible sale last fall after detecting the continued compression of capitalization rates for similar buildings in the region, which fell from 7% to the mid-4% range.  

CBRE was selected as the exclusive sales broker, and upon bringing the asset to the market, it solicited more than 10 qualified offers. At the time of the sale to Buligo Capital Partners, the average in-place industrial rent had risen to approximately $4.25 per square foot, and 1788 Holdings had elevated office rents from $2.40 triple net to $10 triple net. 1788 Holdings acquired the asset on a 9% cap rate and sold the building on a 5.625% cap rate.      

Sustained vibrancy of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania submarket

Riverside Business Center is located within the Lehigh Valley submarket, which is considered to be the 69th largest metropolitan area in the United States by population, It is home to nearly 700,000 people and has a Gross National Product (GNP) approaching $43 billion. According to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), more than eight million square feet of industrial space was added to the submarket last year, increasing the total to nearly 140 million square feet of industrial space. More than 9 million square feet of space was leased, lowering the vacancy rate to 4.2%.    

Outlook of national industrial/warehouse space category

The brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield stated in its 2021-2022 North American Industrial Outlook, “the tailwinds of e-commerce and heightened focus on supply chain resiliency will keep the industrial market in an upswing, with record construction and new all-time high rental rates on the horizon.” More than 481 million square feet of industrial space is expected to be absorbed throughout North America during this time period. 

According to CBRE’s U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook 2022, “on the heels of record transaction volume and rent growth amid extremely tight supply and high demand, the industrial real estate market will remain extremely strong in 2022. Demand will primarily be driven by growing e-commerce sales, the improving economy, population migration and the need for onshore safety stock inventory to avoid the supply chain disruptions of the past 18 months.”

1788 intends to deploy proceeds of sale to fund future value-add acquisition opportunities

1788 Holdings created the company’s light industrial platform in 2018 with the purchase of Riverside Business Center. The company has since expanded its targeted geographic footprint to seven states and continues to seek opportunities in additional markets. 1788 Holdings is particularly interested in acquiring under-performing warehouse/industrial assets with the opportunity to re-tenant, complete leasing programs and improve operational efficiencies.

“This disposition was a timely and successfully-executed thesis that rewarded our investors, and we intend to remain aggressive and active in our approach for the foreseeable future to seize emerging value-add properties in various asset categories,” said Goodwin. “We have particular interest in the light industrial and outside storage asset categories and have ready capital to immediately act on the opportunities before us.”  

1788 Holdings, LLC is a Bethesda-based commercial real estate investment company with a focus in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States. The company’s capabilities include the acquisition, development and strategic oversight of highly-differentiated residential, office, retail and industrial properties, including Industrial Office Storage assets. 1788 Holdings now owns 17 properties totaling approximately 1.5 million square feet of space, as well as an additional 50 acres of outside storage space in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, with a total market value of $137 million. For additional information, visit www.1788holdings.com

Former Harsco site sold

Investors are paying tens of millions of dollars for big warehouses in Central Pennsylvania. But there's also a market for stuff that needs to be stored outside.

• It's a market that prompted Bethesda, Maryland-based 1788 Holdings to pay $12.8 million for a 21.3 acre tract at 1001 Herr St., a former Harsco manufacturing site.

• "I personally love outdoor storage for one reason. It's a zoning code that, generally, jurisdictions are getting rid of," said Larry Goodwin, principal of 1788 Holdings.

• That means there is a dwindling supply but a steady demand, he said. "Somebody's got to hang out and take care of the legacy users. That market isn't going away."

Who are the users: While some products need temperature-controlled settings away from wind, rain, sun and snow, other products can be stored cost-effectively in the open air.

• The list includes trailers, shipping containers, solar arrays, porta potties and landscaping products, Goodwin said.

• Tenants at 1001 Herr St. include Capitol Building Supply, PP&L Electric Utilitiesand a pair of trucking companies, Martin Logistics and Midwest Transport, according to Goodwin and a press release from Marcus & Millichap, the real estate firm that brokered the sale.

• PP&L is the largest user, taking up 10 acres and a couple buildings totaling no more than 20,000 square feet, Goodwin said.

• Capitol Building is using 3.5 acres but is looking to add up to two acres more, as well as a new shed for storing drywall, Goodwin said. Capitol uses existing buildings totaling about 35,000 square feet.

• "They love this location and want to turn it into a regional hub," Goodwin said.

• He is marketing the remaining land to tenants with the help of John Van Buskirk, an agent with real estate firm Lee & Associates of Eastern Pennsylvania.

• Goodwin noted that he is hoping to work with neighbors to address flooding concerns in the area.

Who's the seller: A real estate partnership tied to John Moran Jr., the developer behind a neighboring property, the World Trade Center Harrisburg at 1000 Cameron St., according to Goodwin and county deed records.

• In July, Moran bought the Herr Street property for $505,000 from Capital Region Economic Development Corp.,which had bought the site in 2018 from Harsco.

• CREDC, an arm of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber, landed a state grant to study environmental contamination at the site with a goal of putting it back into productive use, said Ryan Unger, president and CEO of the chamber and CREDC.

• CREDC also wanted to ensure future owners understood the environmental risks, said Unger, who joined the chamber this summer.

• Moran leased the property while CREDC was studying it and had a sales agreement in place for when the environmental review was complete, Unger said.

• "An investment of that size is a positive thing for the region and the city," he said of 1788's purchase of the property.

• Efforts to reach Moran were not successful.

The background: 1788 Holdings owns 17 properties and 50 acres of outdoor storage space in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

• In addition to the Herr Street tract, the firm owns a roughly 59,000 square-foot warehouse with outside storage at 1400 Hagy Way in Harrisburg, Goodwin said, Tenants include ice cream maker Hershey Creamery and mail services companyCapitol Presort.

• 1788 also owns a 430,000 square-foot warehouse with outside storage at 1139 Lehigh Ave. near Allentown, Goodwin added.

The great outdoors: Outdoor storage areas now have their own nomenclature: They are referred to as industrial outdoor storage properties or industrial service facilities.

• And like any real estate asset worthy of dueling names, it has dedicated investors.

• One of the biggest is a Chicago-based outfit called Industrial Outdoor Ventures.

Bethesda company enters Baltimore industrial market as part of $57M buying spree

Two Baltimore warehouse properties were scooped up by a Bethesda investment trust this fall as part of a $57 million portfolio blitz.

1788 Holdings LLC acquired industrial facilities at 6901 Rolling Mill Road in East Baltimore near Patterson High School and 1601 Wicomico St. near M&T Bank Stadium as its first deals in the local market. The total acquisition cost for both properties was $22.8 million.

The local deals were part of a larger push by 1788 Holdings to expand its industrial base as the strong market continues its hot streak that started before and continued during the pandemic. Overall, 1788 Holdings has recently acquired more than 1 million square feet of space stretched across 14 properties for a total of $57 million.

Plans for the Baltimore warehouses are to set them up as large- scale outdoor storage operations. Such space has become critical to companies like automakers, construction suppliers and e- commerce firms that use the Port of Baltimore and Interstate 95 to deliver their goods to a holding spot before they are moved on to consumers.

The port has become a major cargo gateway and added new lines even as congestion at several ports across the U.S. has jammed deliveries. The surge in e-commerce has also added container deliveries through the port, which then are shipped out via rail to other destinations in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

"We believe the availability of this acreage represents a significant competitive advantage in the Baltimore city submarket,” said Larry J. Goodwin, principal of 1788 Holdings, in a statement. "As a port city, Baltimore is a primary destination for roll-on/roll-off cargo, particularly automobiles, trucks and heavy equipment cargo and there remains continuing demand for storage sites with immediate proximity. Most of the infill light industrial properties in the immediate trade area do not have excess land for this type of storage, and we are filling this ongoing need."

1788 Holdings has much of its portfolio based in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The firm's light industrial push started in 2018 after it acquired the 435,000-square-foot Riverside Business Center in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The company has since expanded its footprint into seven states.

A recent report by Cushman & Wakefield researchers said the hot industrial market was expected to continue into next year as more than 481 million square feet of industrial space is expected to be leased across the U.S.

Industrial Outdoor Storage catch attention of end-users and investors

The seemingly insatiable demand for large-scale warehouse/industrial buildings has breathed life into another, typically overlooked asset class that is drawing the widespread attention of both end-users and investors alike. Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS), also known as Outdoor Storage Land (OSL), has emerged as a significant complementary necessity among logistics companies that need space to stage or provide short-term storage for products prior to shipping them to the next destination. The requirement is particularly acute in port city locations, such as Baltimore.

Bethesda, Maryland-based 1788 Holdings, LLC acquired two assets in Baltimore City over the past several of weeks – 6901 Rolling Mill Road and the 350,000 square foot 1601 Wicomico Street – in part due to the existence of available outside storage land, according to company principal Larry J. Goodwin.

“As a port city, Baltimore is a primary destination for roll-on/roll-off cargo, particularly automobiles, trucks and heavy equipment cargo, and there remains continuing demand for storage sites with immediate proximity,” Goodwin explained. “Most of the infill light industrial properties in the immediate trade area do not have excess land for this type of storage, and we are filling this ongoing need. The availability of this acreage represents a significant competitive advantage in the Baltimore City submarket and remains a point of emphasis in our ongoing acquisition strategy.”

Industrial Outdoor Storage has emerged as an valuable piece of the logistics supply chain, with end-users utilizing the space to sort through containers that have recently arrived on overseas vessels. Trucks, automobiles and construction vehicles are regularly placed on the lots in a “layover” situation, while awaiting their next transport to a final destination. The emerging asset class has been called “mission-critical” by some real estate experts and typically range in size from five to 20 acres.

“I often refer the Interstate 95 corridor as the East Coast main street for large-scale warehouse buildings. These facilities need backup land for trucks, materials and products of all sorts and other uses,” stated Mitch Gold, President and CEO of Gold and Company. “Operating an efficient logistics operation means everything in our current environment of next-day commerce, thanks to what many refer to as the Amazon effect. Just-in-time inventory has now become just-in-case inventory, which means warehouses are now overstocked with products they believe consumers will continue to purchase. All of this maneuvering requires trucks and trailers to move products around and sometimes there just isn’t enough space inside the warehouse.”

Gold points to the Fairfield Maritime District in Baltimore City which he terms “a gigantic parking lot full of cars and other vehicles in international transit that recently arrived from international ports of call.”

He adds that “the old trite saying that they’re not making any more land is true, and it remains a premium especially in the Baltimore region because land prices are less expensive than in New Jersey and New York. Plus, no one wants industrial projects around them due to environmental regulations and other complications. The Port of Baltimore is considered the #1 RoRo (roll on/roll off) destination in the country due to its closer proximity than other east coast ports to the mid-west, highway connections and heavy rail component.”

“Two to three years ago, interest and overall demand was increasing for this asset class but now, it has become so popular that the category even has its own name,” stated Dan Hudak, SIOR, Senior Vice President and Principal, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services. “That’s when I realized the Industrial Outdoor Storage was evolving into something significant.

“Mirroring the dramatic growth of the warehouse and industrial sector, the shutdown due to COVID-19 lit a fire beneath the e-commerce industry and placed extreme pressure not only on existing inventory and the development pipeline, but also the need for land to park trucks and vehicles to transport product to consumers. Because of the high barrier of entry into this market, in part due to the dearth of industrial zoned land, suddenly, many different users were chasing relatively few outdoor storage spaces, with long-term users in the construction contracting and utility industries getting squeezed. Available land is always at a premium, but there was a new level of interest among developers to acquire land to build new product, and among end-users to store or stage materials and equipment.”

The trend is happening in Baltimore, in other port cities and nationally.

“The general consensus is that it will only become harder to find suitable outdoor storage sites,” Hudak said. “This, in turn, has dramatically increased pricing and has attracted the attention of real estate investors and private equity firms.”

Furthermore, current events could drive the demand even higher.

“The commercial real estate world is closely watching the movement of the national infrastructure legislation and its impact on the construction and development industries in particular,” Hudak added. “Its passage will especially kick infrastructure contractors into high gear, which will only heighten the interest and need for outdoor storage spaces.”

1788 Holdings Acquires Two Industrial Properties In Baltimore City To Fuel Continued Acquisition Strategy

Bethesda, MD-based company has acquired 14 assets totaling more than one million square feet of space and 38 acres across seven states in 2021, with $57 million total transaction value 

1601 Wicomico Street

1788 Holdings, LLC, a privately-owned commercial real estate and investment firm headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, has recently acquired two industrial properties in the Baltimore City submarket as part of a regional strategy that has included the purchase of 14 assets totaling more than one million square feet of space and 38 acres across seven states. The group has acquired approximately $57 millionworth of assets in 2021, with a goal of nearly doubling its portfolio size with the acquisition of an additional two million square feet of space throughout the Eastern United States over the next 18 months. 1788 Holdings now owns 17 properties totaling approximately 1.5 million square feet of space, as well as an additional 50 acres of outside storage space in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, with a total market value of $137 million.

“A confluence of enduring positive fundamentals, combined with our sustained confidence in both the national economy and commercial real estate industry, has fueled our approach over the past year, and we intend to remain aggressive and active in our approach for the foreseeable future to seize emerging opportunities,” explained Larry J. Goodwin, Principal, 1788 Holdings. “These factors include the sustained strength of the industrial, warehouse and outside storage asset categories, declining inventories, the availability of ready capital and the opportunity to acquire under-performing properties in which we can create significant value for our investors over the long-term.”

6901 Rolling Mill Road

Summary of recent Baltimore City acquisition activity

Since August, 1788 Holdings has separately acquired a 75,000 square foot light industrial/manufacturing building at 6901 Rolling Mill Road, as well as a 351,000 square foot light industrial/manufacturing asset at 1601 Wicomico Street for a combined $22.8 million. Situated on 6.4 acres of land, 6901 Rolling Mill Road is located just over one mile from the Eastern Avenue exit of Interstate 95 and features outside storage land and direct access to the Port of Baltimore. It is presently 100% leased to one tenant. 1601 Wicomico Street is positioned directly adjacent to Interstate 95 from the Russell St. North exit and features nearly three acres of outside storage land. It is 100% leased with three tenants.

“Acquiring Outside Storage Land (OSL) remains a point of emphasis in our acquisition strategy, as we believe the availability of this acreage represents a significant competitive advantage in the Baltimore City submarket,” Goodwin added. “As a port city, Baltimore is a primary destination for roll-on/roll-off cargo, particularly automobiles, trucks and heavy equipment cargo, and there remains continuing demand for storage sites with immediate proximity. Most of the infill light industrial properties in the immediate trade area do not have excess land for this type of storage, and we are filling this ongoing need.”

Industrial strength of Baltimore City submarket

Prologis, Inc., a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco, recently published a market report which ranked Baltimore as the top performing market internationally, in terms of rental growth, at 11%. The report additionally stated that “in the years ahead, replacement cost growth and barriers to new supply in urban areas would continue to provide significant lift to the rental growth in Baltimore and other land-constrained markets.” The Prologis report stated that Baltimore had recently modernized its distribution network, and is now in line to serve the logistics needs of larger markets such as Philadelphia and New York.

Commercial brokerage firm CBRE reported a 1.6% vacancy level for industrial product in Baltimore City, which is significantly below the 5.1% vacancy rate in the larger Baltimore Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). CBRE further listed Baltimore as its fifth-best market in the United States for projected rent growth over the next five years, with cumulative rent growth expected to approach 32%. The group cited the limited ability to add new supply and rising replacement costs as major reasons for this increase.

Long-term acquisition strategy has multi-regional focus

1788 Holdings created the company’s light industrial platform in 2018 with the purchase of Riverside Business Center, a 435,000 square foot industrial building located in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The company has since expanded its targeted geographic footprint to seven states and continues to seek opportunities in additional markets.1788 Holdings is particularly interested in acquiring under-performing warehouse/industrial assets with the opportunity to re-tenant, complete leasing programs and improve operational efficiencies.

In its 2021-2022 North American Industrial Outlook the brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield stated, “the tailwinds of e-commerce and heightened focus on supply chain resiliency will keep the industrial market in an upswing with record construction and new all-time high rental rates on the horizon.” More than 481 million square feet of industrial space is expected to be absorbed throughout North America during this time period.

“Unprecedented times such as these present extraordinary opportunities and we have the team, the determination and the capital to take advantage of economic and market conditions to the benefit of our investor group,” Goodwin concluded.

Q&A: Larry Goodwin on 1788 Holdings’ Industrial Strategy in DC Region

At 1788 Holdings, a real estate investment company based in Bethesda, Md., light industrial assets are a major focus, and the company has been increasing its reach in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., region over the last few years. 

For instance, 1788 acquired a 10-asset portfolio of well-located retail pad sites — vacant lots near retail centers — throughout the Washington, D.C., metro. Eight of the sites are former Capital One Bank branches and two are land parcels that were to be developed as bank branches. 

How Much More Development Can Montgomery County Stand?

Feb 05, 2016 David Hubler, Bisnow, DC – via Bisnow

Bethesda Lane

Montgomery County is sometimes viewed, even by its residents, as a fully developed suburban community with little opportunity, or need, for more growth. Bisnow last week reported plans to form a coalition of Bethesda-area residents who want to retain the county’s large stock of single-family homes and are opposed to increased density from new housing construction. That will certainly come up on Feb. 17 at 12435 Park Potomac Ave for Bisnow’s Montgomery County State of the Market event.

Residents, of course, don’t see the county through the eyes of professional developers like Doug Firstenberg (snapped above at another Bisnow event), principal at StonebridgeCarras, who has more than two decades of development experience in the county.   “It’s a place where people want to live,” Doug says, with outstanding schools, retail and excellent infrastructure. “It has been an urban infill, transit-oriented development area before all those terms were coined.” In Bethesda, StonebridgeCarras recently completed the Flats, a seven-story, 162-unit apartment building, and the Darcy across the street, nine floors of condos that range from 835 SF one-bedroom units to a 2,935 SF penthouse. Next up for delivery is 8300 Wisconsin Ave with 359 residential units and a Harris Teeter. Doug is bullish also on White Flint, once a prime shopping area that’s beginning to undergo a major redevelopment. Once Lerner Enterprises, Tower Cos and Lord & Taylor resolve their multimillion-dollar legal dispute, other redevelopment will follow, he predicts. “You’re starting to see these other areas really start to transform and become dynamic,” Doug says. Commercially, however, one wonders about the future of the office parks along I-270 and elsewhere that aren’t Metro accessible and have never been viewed as dynamic.

1788 Holdings principal Larry Goodwin says the volume of planned, intense mixed-use development in the White Flint area will create a more robust live/work/play environment, and that will be good for the county. That said, he concurs that the office market overall hasn’t been vibrant in recent years. “When I see only two new buildings being delivered in this cycle in downtown Bethesda,” Larry says, “and they have been slow to lease up despite being the only new product recently built, that would suggest the county’s office market is not a robust environment.” Perhaps to show its faith in MoCo’s viability—and to get a close-up perspective of the lay of the land—1788 recently moved its HQ to downtown Bethesda from downtown DC. Last summer, 1788 and Lantian Development purchased the Shady Grove Office Park, in the heart of North Rockville, with plans to entitle and redevelop the park into a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use town center over the next five to 10 years. “We felt like we could create a compelling environment in that area and not be competing” with so many other people looking to develop elsewhere, Larry explains.

Foulger-Pratt president of development Brigg Bunker likes the county precisely because of its multi-tenant residential development. “There’s new product in different price points like we haven’t seen in Montgomery County for quite some time,” he says. The demand is across the board, stoked in part by Baby Boomers moving out of their single-family homes and into smaller apartment units with less maintenance. Given the demographics of the area, Brigg says, expect to see more such downsizing in the future. In December 2015, Foulger-Pratt and partner Willco broke ground on Core, a 16-story, 292-unit apartment building at 8621 Georgia Ave, in Silver Spring’s business district. The building will include 52 affordable units and about 1,500 SF of ground-floor retail space.   But even with Montgomery’s strong professional job base, Brigg is not as enthusiastic about the county’s commercial market, especially when it comes to “elephant hunting”—finding tenants to pre-lease large spaces. “There’s not a lot of 30-plus-thousand SF tenants looking to locate in Montgomery County,” he says. “And if they are [looking], they’re staying in the county, moving from one building to another. We’re not getting a large base of tenants moving into the county.”  Brigg and Foulger-Pratt will have to hunt smaller game at their new 12435 Park Potomac Ave office building—the firm’s new HQ and the location of Bisnow’s Montgomery County State of the Market on Feb. 17 at 7:30am.