Real Estate Weekly: Site picked for new Social Security data center

Leases, news and notes from Maryland's commercial real estate industry

Posted: 10:45 am Fri, February 18, 2011
By Paul Samuel
Daily Record Associate Editor

The U.S. General Services Administration said it selected a site in Urbana, in Frederick County, for the Social Security Administration’s new national data center.

The announcement did not specify the exact location, the size of the site or the size of the new facility. A new center is needed to efficiently handle the volume of electronic transactions — up to 150 million per day — processed by the SSA.

According to published reports, the new facility is expected to cost up to $800 million, of which $500 million has been authorized in economic stimulus funds. A design-build construction contract is expected to be awarded by 2012.

UMCP goes solar
This summer, Standard Solar Inc. of Rockville will install more than 2,600 solar panels on the roof of the Severn Building, a University of Maryland, College Park multi-purpose building located less than a mile from the university campus.

UMCP was awarded a grant by the Maryland Energy Administration aimed at promoting the installation of renewable energy systems on public buildings in Maryland. Following a competitive bid process, Washington Gas Energy Services Inc. was chosen to finance the remainder of the project cost and own and operate the system.

UMCP will purchase the electricity generated by the solar panels under a 20-year agreement with WGES.

RKK to team on mass transit project
A joint venture consisting of Baltimore-based multidisciplinary engineering and design firm Rummel, Klepper & Kahl LLP and Aecom Technology Corp., a Los Angeles-based provider of professional technical and management support services, has been awarded an eight-year, $60 million program management contract by the Maryland Transit Administration.

The contract calls for the management of major new mass transit capital projects in Maryland currently in the planning and environmental stages, including the Red Line light rail in Baltimore, and the Purple Line and the Corridor Cities Transitway public transportation systems in Maryland’s D.C. suburbs.

Sailing school berthed
The Baltimore Board of Estimates, the city’s spending panel, on Wednesday approved a 25-year lease agreement between the city and the Downtown Sailing Center for riparian rights and submerged lands at a city-owned site, 1407 Key Highway, for the expansion of DSC’s existing sailing program.

The DSC is a nonprofit community sailing center that offers instruction and access to sailing to city residents young and old. It will pay the city $1 annually for the term of the lease. DSC has operated at the 1407 Key Highway site since 2000 under various temporary agreements with the city.

Greenberg Gibbons to manage Laurel Mall
Greenberg Gibbons, an Owings Mills-based commercial real estate development company, said it has been selected, together with Somera Capital Management and AEW Capital Management, to form a new joint venture that will assume management and leasing responsibilities for the Laurel Mall, and create a comprehensive redevelopment strategy for the 650,000-square-foot shopping center.

The existing, 31-year-old indoor shopping complex is located on Route 1, halfway between Washington and Baltimore. Under terms of the agreement, Greenberg Gibbons will manage and lease the existing mall, while creating plans to revitalize the site into a vibrant, new mixed-use destination with retail, dining, entertainment and residential housing.

Land sale opposed
More than 250 Cumberland residents say they oppose the city’s proposed sale of about 3,800 rural acres in neighboring Pennsylvania to a conservation group.

Opposition leaders gave the City Council a petition signed by residents on Tuesday. The forested land is in the watershed of two reservoirs that supply Cumberland’s drinking water. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy offered $4 million for the land. The city would keep the water rights and the right to buy back the property at the same price should the conservancy ever decide to sell or transfer it.

The Cumberland City Council plans a vote on March 1.

BAE Systems gets LEED nod
BAE Systems’ new facility in Rockville has been awarded a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council., the internationally recognized system for green buildings.

The award acknowledges that the facility offers clear and measurable benefits to the environment, such as energy savings, water efficiency and indoor air quality. Last June, about 400 BAE Systems employees relocated from nearby Silver Spring to the new, 139,000-square-foot building, part of the Redland Corporate Center in Rockville.

DBI Architects Inc., KTA Engineering Group, CresaPartners and Davis Construction shared the LEED award from the U.S. Green Building Council.

REIT names development vice president
Federal Realty Investment Trust of Rockville announced the promotion of Evan Goldman to vice president, development.

Goldman has worked at Federal Realty since 2008, managing the redevelopment of Mid-Pike Plaza in North Bethesda, as well as other projects. Goldman has 10 years of experience in development, finance and architecture.

Prior to joining Federal Realty, he was a partner at the Holladay Corp., a mixed-use development company in Washington, D.C.  He has also worked as an associate for Tishman Speyer Properties and as vice president of design for LeRoy Adventures.

This Week in Leases

• Franklin & Prokopik PC, a Baltimore law firm at 2 N. Charles St., has leased 24,158 square feet of office space in that building, expanding its current headquarters. The law firm also has offices in Easton and Hagerstown, as well as Herndon, Va., and Tampa, Fla. The building, formerly known as the B&O Building, was renovated in 2007. It is now home to the Hotel Monaco along with 40,270 square feet of office space. Franklin & Prokopik is the building’s largest office tenant. Tim Jackson of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. The landlord, ARC Properties Inc., was self-represented by Bill Wheeler.

• Selective Insurance has renewed its 10,784-square-foot lease at 6 North Park Drive in the North Park Business Community in Hunt Valley. Tim Jackson with Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant. The landlord, Liberty Property Trust, was self-represented by Todd Summerfield.

• A & M Supply Corp., a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of non-structural, architectural-grade, interior building products for the commercial and industrial marketplace, has signed a 10-year lease on a vacant 102,000-square-foot industrial building in Upper Marlboro. The transaction is the largest new industrial lease completed in Prince George’s County since April 2010, and one of only two new leases of 100,000 square feet or larger completed in the county within the past year, according to Columbia-based NAI KLNB, which brokered the deal. A & M will relocate its current distribution facility in Alexandria, Va., to the Upper Marlboro building, formerly occupied by Mattress Discounters.

• Francesca’s Collections, a boutique women’s fashion retailer, will open its first store in the Baltimore area at The Gallery at Harborplace next month. Francesca’s, which is based in Houston, Texas, has leased an 800-square-foot space on the first floor of the Gallery, adjacent to Coach, selling women’s clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories and gifts. A March 7 grand opening is scheduled. Francesca’s has stores in 38 states, including one at the Annapolis Mall.