Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said he intends to invest $300M in city funds to create a program leveraging up to $3B to eliminate as many as 45,000 vacant properties.

Scott called the proliferation of vacant housing in the city an obstacle to equitable development in the city's neighborhoods. He said this proposal, planned over the next 15 years, delivers to neighborhoods the types of incentives that have been used to finance the city's most expensive developments.

“While neighborhoods being built in Harbor East, Baltimore Peninsula and everywhere the water touches have benefitted from nearly $1B in [tax increment financing] bonds, residents in neighborhoods across the city have consistently said, ‘Where’s the TIF for our neighborhood?’ and tonight we have the answer,” Scott told WBAL-TV.

The mayor announced the program on Monday at the Greater Harvest Baptist Church in West Baltimore with members of the Greater Baltimore Committee and Baltimoreans United In Leadership and Development. Those organizations have agreed to partner with the city to launch the program.

In addition to development incentives, backers hope to finance the program with funding sources, including $900M in state housing funding, and adding new revenue streams, such as a share of state sales taxes.

SALES

SBSBIO Consulting purchased 7320 Executive Way in Frederick from Cinder Concrete Block Corp. for $6.8M. The buyer plans to use the building, also known as the Omega Center 11, as a biorepository to collect, catalog and store samples of biological material for laboratory research.

MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services' Adam Nachlas and David Paulson of Ackerman & Co. represented the seller. Jonathan Warner of Warner Commercial represented the buyer.

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Chesapeake Real Estate Group, a commercial real estate development and operating company, has acquired a three-building portfolio in Howard County for $4.8M from Adler Real Estate Partners. Also known as Rivers III, the buildings at 10270, 10280 and 10290 Old Columbia Road contain 43K SF of flex/office space. Cris Abramson and Nick Signor of the Newmark Capital Markets team represented the seller, and Chesapeake Real Estate Group was self-represented.

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Online auction platform Ten-X has scheduled an auction for the 25-story One North tower in downtown Baltimore next month. The three-day auction starts Jan. 22 and includes a minimum bid of $4M, the Baltimore Business Journal reported Wednesday.

LEASES

Michael Graves Architecture, a Princeton, New Jersey-based planning, architecture and interior design firm, signed a five-year lease for 5K SF at 233 East Redwood St. in downtown Baltimore. The lease for the office space supports the firm's expansion following its acquisition of Maryland-based Waldon Studio Architects in 2022.

Brad Byrnes, co-founder of building owner Byrnes & Associates, told Bisnow the 90K SF of combined space at 225 and 233 East Redwood St. is 80% leased after this deal. The properties were 5% occupied when Byrnes & Associates purchased the buildings in November 2020, he said.

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Ohio-based OptiVia Solutions has inked a lease with St. John Properties for more than 12K SF at 795 Cromwell Park in the Cromwell Business Park in Anne Arundel County. OptiVia Solutions, which designs, constructs and installs automated teller machines, now has four regional offices nationwide. Lee & Associates | Maryland principal Kate Jordan, Vice President Marley Welsh and associate Samantha Eckels represented the tenant in the deal. Jonas Asner, a partner in training with St. John Properties, represented the landlord.

DEVELOPMENT

The Pickleball House, a pickleball club in northeast Baltimore County with eight permanent regulation-size indoor courts, plans to open on Saturday. The club, also called "The House," will be open to all for complimentary play until Dec. 17.

PERSONNEL

MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services' Investment Sales Division has hired Tom Green as a real estate adviser. Green’s various assignments include market research, tracking industry trends and identifying potential investment sales. Previously, Green worked as a business development representative for Vendr in Charleston, South Carolina.

MacKenzie also hired Ethan Binnix as a real estate adviser. Binnix supports leasing and sales activities for commercial office, flex/office, mixed-use and medical office products in the Baltimore metro area through market research, generating new tenant leads and identifying potential investment opportunities.