Work starting on Columbia mall expansion

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Work on a 40,000-square-foot expansion of The Mall in Columbia will begin Tuesday morning.

The project includes redevelopment of 30,000 square feet of existing retail space. When it’s all completed, it will feature a 70,000-square-foot open-air “lifestyle center” much like an old-fashioned Main Street.

The 1.6 million-square-foot mall first opened in 1971 as one of the centerpieces of James Rouse’s visionary new community in Howard County. General Growth Properties bought the mall from the Rouse Co. in 2004.

Since then, it has continued to evolve with the addition of new stores and restaurants. But the massive expansion is the first major redevelopment since it opened. The biggest change will be demolition of the massive L.L. Bean store there along with some parking spaces to make way for the new, outdoor-based public gathering and retail space.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and members of the County Council will be present for the groundbreaking set to begin at 9 a.m. on the second level where J. Crew once sold its trendy togs.

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CBRE announced this week that it had recently brokered the $13.5 million sale of a Class A industrial property at 1021 Swan Creek Dr. in Curtis Bay.

The property was sold by Swan Creek 5R LLC to Hartz Mountain Industries. It is leased by Nissan North America, MD.

“The new 10-year lease by Nissan attracted many industrial-focused investors, but what made this property a true standout is its location within the Baltimore-Washington corridor and the exceptional quality of the facility,” said CBRE Vice President Jonathan H. Beard. In another transaction, CBRE’s Beard and Senior Vice President Robert T. “Bo” Cashman also sold a Class A warehouse at 511 Chelsea Rd. in Harford County for $43.1 million to Chambers Street Properties from sellers Ryan Commercial LLC, Emory Properties LLC and Northwestern Mutual.

The newly built, 672,000-square-foot space located in Perryman has tenants under long-term leases and is located within the county’s Mid-Atlantic Distribution Center.

Cashman said of the deal: “511 Chelsea attracted significant interest from multiple core investors trying to break into the mid-Atlantic industrial market. A coveted state-of-the-art facility in the crowded I-95 corridor, this opportunity offered investors the perfect combination of exceptional location, long-term cash flow, exit liquidity and quality.”

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Colliers International in Baltimore recently brokered a $6.2 million sale of three properties in Harford County to Goodier Baker LLC.

Goodier Baker is a Maryland-based real estate development company that bought the Class B flex buildings in Edgewood and Bel Air, 95 percent leased. Two Edgewood industrial buildings, at 2113 Columbia Park Dr. and 2111 Emmorton Park Rd., total 60,000 square feet, while the Bel Air flex building at 201 Gateway Dr. totals 20,400 square feet.

“This type of property — with its level of access and type of tenants — has performed well throughout the downturn, but looks to perform even better as we come out of the recession,” Dan Goodier, president of the commercial properties division for Goodier Baker, said in a statement. “The I-95 corridor in Harford County is an attractive market for many businesses, and this transaction highlights that fact.”

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TIDBITS: Winter Restaurant Week in Baltimore County will officially open Friday and will run through Jan. 27. … CREW Baltimore, the local group of Commercial Real Estate Women, has scheduled a luncheon forum on “the Road Ahead” in the local commercial leasing scene for Jan. 17 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Tremont Grand. Nancy R. Ferrell, a senior vice president and managing director of NorthMarq Capital, will lead the discussion. … Owners of Econometrica, an academic journal of economics, recently leased 23,199 square feet of space at 7475 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda, Transwestern officials said this week. … Scheer Partners this week announced it had named Kevin Rosenberg as commercial leasing associate to focus on leasing health care and medical business space in the Interstate 270 technology corridor. … Susan Martinez will soon become director of sales for Creighton Farms, a private residential community near Washington.