Real Estate Weekly: Pebblebook buys Boston hotel

Posted: 8:09 am Fri, April 1, 2011
By Paul Samuel
Daily Record Associate Editor

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, of Bethesda, has bought the W Hotel in Boston from bankrupt Sawyer Enterprises for $89.5 million.

Under the agreement, an affiliate of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide will continue to operate the 235-room luxury hotel and its affiliated W Residences.

Carol Sawyer Parks, CEO of Sawyer Enterprises, said she expects her company to file a bankruptcy reorganization plan this week.

Calif. REIT acquires Jessup industrial building
Terreno Realty Corp., a publicly traded, San Francisco-based real estate investment trust, acquired 8441 Dorsey Run Road, a 135,000-square-foot, one-story industrial building in Jessup, for $5.8 million.

The building is currently 44 percent leased to Sterling Moving and Storage, which uses approximately 60,000 square feet for logistics operations serving the Central Maryland corridor. The company is owned by the former owner of the property, BJF Realty LLC.

NAI KLNB represented both parties in the transaction, Chris Kubler for Terreno and J. Allan Riorda for BJF Realty. Terreno has also retained NAI KLNB to market the property’s remaining 75,000 square feet of space.

First Potomac acquires D.C. office building
First Potomac Realty Trust, a Bethesda-based real estate investment trust focused on office and industrial properties in the Greater Washington region, acquired 840 First Street NE, a fully leased, Class A office building adjacent to Union Station in Washington, D.C., from the Stephen A. Goldberg Co.

The sale price was $90 million, with up to $10 million of additional consideration payable, depending on the terms of any lease renewal by the existing tenant or re-tenanting of the property.

The 8-year-old, 248,576-square-foot, 12-story building and 222-space underground garage is fully leased to Group Hospitalization and Medical Services Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the original tenant.

Manekin annual party raises $28,000
Manekin LLC and Manekin Construction, along with 85 subcontractors and vendors, raised more than $28,000 for charity at the company’s annual subcontractors party.

The funds will support 31 non-profit organizations in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Charles, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Prince George’s counties, as well as Baltimore City and Central Maryland.

Manekin started the event 27 years ago as a way of thanking its construction subcontractors, and eventually named it in honor of Karen Dean, a Manekin employee who passed away in 1996. Since then, the subcontractors’ party has become an annual event and has grown to become a Manekin party thanking all vendors company wide.

The funds are collected and disbursed to nonprofit organizations from the Karen Dean Memorial Fund. The cumulative amount raised is approximately $753,000.

Yerman Witman opens new office
Yerman Witman Gaines and Conklin Realty LLC, the residential real estate brokerage division of The Strata Group, has opened its ninth brokerage location at The Offices at McHenry, the office component of the 175,000-square-foot, mixed-used McHenry Row project now under construction in the Locust Point section of Baltimore City, near the intersection of Key Highway and East Fort Avenue.

YWGC joins Continental Title Group, the commercial and residential title entity of The Strata Group which moved to the project late last year.

Steve Meszaros, recently hired by YWGC as the firm’s new executive vice president and regional manager, will oversee day-to-day operations and management of the McHenry Row office, as well as those situated in Canton and Federal Hill.

Construction starts on luxury apartments
Somerset Construction Co. of Bethesda has started construction of The Arbors at Baltimore Crossroads, a 365-unit luxury, market-rate rental apartment development within the 1,000-acre Baltimore Crossroads @95 mixed-use development near the White Marsh section of Baltimore County.

Bozzuto Management of Greenbelt will manage the community of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with monthly rents ranging from approximately $1,100 to $2,000.

The initial, 100-unit phase of the complex is expected to be delivered this October, with completion of all 365 units by April 2012. The development is being designed to LEED Silver standards. An unusual feature of the complex will be electric car-charging stations inside the development’s six-story parking garage.

The expected cost for an overnight charge — per vehicle — is approximately $1.50.

First Potomac taps exec to lead D.C. portfolio
First Potomac Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust focused on office and industrial properties in the Greater Washington region, announced that Ernest D. Jarvis has joined the company as senior vice president, overseeing its Washington, D.C. portfolio.

Jarvis has 15 years experience in the real estate industry, and formerly was managing director for CB Richard Ellis’ Washington office, with responsibility for the office’s business and operating functions.

This Week in Leases

• Merritt Properties LLC announced the following leases, all in Baltimore County, from Feb. 25 onward. Merritt was represented in all of the lease negotiations by the team of Pat Franklin, Whit Levering , Lou Boeri and Ashley Combs. Continental Casualty Co., an insurance company, leased 12,919 square feet of office space at Timonium Two, 1954 Greenspring Avenue, in Timonium. Jim Buddrus of Swearingen Realty Group LLC represented Continental Casualty. Life Bridge Church LLC leased 3,600 square feet of office and warehouse space at Windsor Corporate Park, 2601 N. Rolling Road, in Milford Mill. Mortgage Technologies LLC, a mortgage company, leased 2,362 square feet of office space at Owings Mills Corporate Campus, 10045 Red Run Boulevard, in Owings Mills. Pepperidge Farm Inc., a baked goods distributor, leased 9,800 square feet of warehouse and office space at Windsor Corporate Park, 2603 N. Rolling Road, Milford Mill. The Roof Center Inc., a building materials distributor, leased 18,000 square feet of warehouse and office space at 8997 Yellow Brick Road in Rossville. Motion Industries Inc., a supplier of industrial maintenance, repair and operational replacement parts and services, leased 48,250 square feet of warehouse and office space at 8840 Kelso Drive in Essex. J. Allan Riorda and Peter Dudley of NAI KLNB represented the tenant.

• Merritt Properties LLC also announced these leases in Howard County. In both transactions, Merritt’s representatives were Jamie Campbell, Liz Tarran-Jones, Vince Bagli and Steve Shaw. Goodman DistributionInc., an HVAC wholesaler/distributor, leased 28,800 square feet of warehouse space at Ridgeway One, 7595 Washington Boulevard in Elkridge. Michael Moran of KLNB represented the tenant. Avenade Inc., a government contractor providing information technology services, leased 7,878 square feet of office space at Columbia Corporate Park 100, 6011 University Boulevard in Ellicott City. Chris Coccaro of Broad Street Realty represented the tenant.