Downtown Baltimore
Office Market
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Kornblatt
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Downtown Baltimore is a vibrant market, currently experiencing
a large construction boom, according to Henry Kornblatt,
president and CEO of The Kornblatt Company. However,
this boom is primarily coming from the cultural, educational
and governmental sectors, thereby balancing out needed construction
projects in those areas.
Construction in the office market has not been as robust as
the previously mentioned sectors. The Baltimore Center City
office market is running at a relatively high vacancy rate of
17 percent for Class A office buildings, which is pushing the
cycle close to an over-supply market. Banks and developers are
generally well on target in their assessment of the market.
There have been some developments with money coming from outside
the local market in the form of a pension fund, which is adding
to the square footage in new construction.
Significant office developments are mostly located on the waterfront,
with new construction of several buildings on Pratt Street
such as 750 E. Pratt, with 320,000 square feet; Pier IV, with
an additional 100,000 square feet connected to an existing 200,000-square-foot
building; and 500 E. Pratt, with 275,000 square feet of new
construction.
The majority of recent large leases are renewals coming from
the financial, legal, educational and technical sectors of the
market. Major leases that have closed recently include Miles
and Stockbridge, which leased 100,000 square feet in the Bank
of America Building; Whiteford and Taylor, which leased 100,000
square feet in the Wachovia Building; 180S, which leased 50,000
square feet in Columbus Center; and the U.S. Attorneys
Office, which leased 50,000 square feet in Charles Center South.
Class A rental rates in Baltimore are marketed between $18 and
$30 per square foot, with higher rates reserved for the newest
construction projects.
The most active submarkets are found in the Columbia and the
Northeast Interstate 95 corridor, mostly due to contracts from
government organizations related to Homeland Security.
Kornblatt adds, I see the market as being very energetic
a lot of excitement is being generated by the fact
that Baltimore City and the state of Maryland are putting
their money into large constructions projects such as the
Hippodrome, the Maryland Science Center, the Baltimore Visitors
Center, the Peabody Institute and the Maryland Institute College
of Art, just to name a few.
©2004 France Publications, Inc. Duplication
or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization
from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints
of this article contact Barbara
Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
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