The Howard Hughes Corp boosted its downtown Columbia portfolio with the purchase of two more office buildings for $39M.

The master developer of Columbia's ambitious, $2.2B redevelopment plan, Howard Hughes bought the American City Building next to Whole Foods for $16.5M and One Mall North, near the mall in Columbia, for $22.5M. The company said in a statement that it plans to demolish the American City Building to make way for a new, mixed-use development with residential, retail and restaurant space.

The fully leased, four-story One Mall North building holds medical, financial, engineering and technology companies and could accommodate other uses, including retail, office and multifamily, in the future. Current zoning regulations allow up to nine stories on the site.

Downtown Columbia's redevelopment plans cleared a major hurdle when the Howard County Council approved $90M in tax-increment financing that will pay for infrastructure upgrades. Learn more about downtown Columbia's redevelopment plans at Bisnow's Howard County State of the Market, Feb. 23.