Fast-growing Hagerstown just got another boost.
The Western Maryland town that is growing in leaps in its industrial and manufacturing base was awarded a $5.8 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to fund construction and transportation workforce programs at Hagerstown Community College.
The grant will pay for the renovation of a facility on campus that houses programs to train students for newly created building and commercial vehicle training jobs in response to the market growth and need for more skilled worker training in Washington County. Funds will come from the American Rescue Plan. Local government will chip in $1.5 million in additional funds.
“This EDA investment will facilitate hands-on training in a modern, innovative space,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo last week in a statement.
The federal EDA program is fueled with $3 billion. It allows communities across the U.S. to plan and build out needed construction-related job training programs like the ones at Hagerstown Community College where the award will help the once rural area build up its worker training and construction programs in the midst of an industrial boom. So far, that large-scale growth has resulted in creation or promise of thousands of new jobs at Amazon, Volvo Group of North America and Hitachi Rail, to name a few corporations expanding there.
An examination of that growth by the Baltimore Business Journal last month showed 17 million square feet of new development — with no end in sight. The boom has led to a $20 million budget surplus for Washington County, money that is helping to build new infrastructure and fund first-responder updates and hirings.
A recent snapshot of Amazon’s dominance of the U.S. industrial and retail landscape showed that while the juggernaut last year increased the number of its fulfillment centers by 30%, it is “slowing down” the growth this year with a 400-million-square-foot portfolio under its belt.
A report on Amazon by the data firm B+E Net Lease Industrial showed that Amazon has sold 43 of its properties so far this year at an average price of close to $109 million each during its reset. The highest price was $330 million for a warehouse complex, while the lowest price fetched for an Amazon property was $17.3 million.
The changes are marked, B+E researchers say, because Amazon’s contraction is expected to total 10 million square feet of subleased warehouse space. Since 2019, Amazon has been in uber growth mode: The company has pumped $10 billion into warehouse development across the U.S. and was the largest builder in the market, according to data by Dodge Data & Analytics.
Seattle-based Amazon last year posted record revenue of over $470 billion, fueled by the pandemic. Its real estate holdings dot the Maryland landscape in nearly all jurisdictions, including a former GM plant on Broening Highway near Canton that was converted into a logistic complex anchored by Amazon a decade ago, and has expanded since then.
The B+E report said Amazon is moving toward creation of smaller “last mile” warehouse facilities as the company is poised to begin drone deliveries this year. The company is also moving to create an all-electric vehicle delivery system.
On the move
The Davis Agnor Rapaport & Skalny law firm in Howard County has moved into new digs. The group is upsizing — a rarity in this world of workplace downsizing — and on Monday officially opened its larger office at 11000 Broken Land Parkway in Downtown Columbia.
The firm will spread across the entire sixth floor of the 70 Corporate Center tower for a total of 19,000 square feet. That is a 50% increase over the firm’s former office space, also in Columbia.
Baltimore-based Arris Design helped to craft the new office space designs and architectural services. Wilhelm Commercial Builders constructed the new offices.
Baltimore’s Harbor Stone Advisors recently closed on an $11.2 million sale of 99-unit Ivy Crossing at Catonsville to a New York investor. The Class B development is a three-story brick complex at 128 Nunnery Lane in Baltimore County’s submarket. The seller was Annapolis-based Severn Companies, which was represented by Harbor Stone’s Justin Verner, Brooks Healy and Tom Wohlgemuth.
Further south in Howard County, the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market in Jessup is getting an overhaul.
County Executive Calvin Ball last week joined officials of the Maryland Department of Agriculture to announce $11 million in local and state for the renovation of the facility that has 43 tenants. Upgrades will include expanded refrigeration areas and more docks in the wholesale produce market’s enclosed back dock area.
The county is offering $1 million toward the expansion, while the state will fund $10 million.
The market has served as ground-zero for decades for food and produce distribution along the East Coast. Customers include grocery stores, wholesale produce vendors, restaurants and hotels. The facility employs 3,000, county officials said.
“This facility is truly a one-of-a-kind asset for our area, with over 330,000 square feet of terminal space used to distribute an enormous volume of produce daily. At any time, virtually any type of produce grown in the U.S.,” Ball said, in a statement.
The combined funding will help expand critical refrigeration capacity and allow for an enclosed expansion of the Market’s back dock. This market is a vital component in the food chain for the entire Mid-Atlantic region, connecting local farmers, wholesale produce vendors, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, and residents in Howard County and Maryland.
Two developers with Maryland ties failed to make the final cut for a massive redevelopment in Richmond.
Weller Development and MAG Partners, the former and current master developer of Port Covington, were eliminated from competition last month to develop the 67-acre “Diamond District” in Virginia’s capital city.
Richmond city officials in July whittled down the prospects to three from six finalists for the project that will create a mixed-use entertainment district anchored by a new ballpark with restaurants, retail and apartments nearby. If all that sounds familiar — somewhat like the aspirations of the $5 billion Port Covington project — it is.
Richmond officials declined to comment on why Weller and MAG Partners were eliminated, citing the ongoing work to select a master developer.
“Teams made the competitive cut because their design, program strength, community benefits and financing approaches meet high city expectations, align with vision for area,” a Richmond spokesperson said in a city news release that detailed the three finalists, Richmond Community Development Partners, RVA Diamond Partners and Vision300 Partners LLC.
Weller exited the Port Covington project in May, replaced by the team of MAG Partners and MacFarlane Partners, two private investors and developers hired by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank to move the needle on the large-scale project. MAG and McFarlane today are overseeing the completion of the first phase of development at the 235-acre site and trying to ink the first office, retail or commercial lease there.
Weller Development officials were unavailable for comment.
MAG Partners officials were also unavailable for comment.
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