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JAG Associates of Frederick has acquired the St. Agnes Healthcare Center in Catonsville for $10.4 million, according to Northmarq Capital, which represented the buyer.

The 80,293-square-foot, two-story property, previously owned by Lord Baltimore Properties, was completely renovated with a new building skin.

"This is the first multi-tenant medical office building sold in the Baltimore-Washington area this year," said Jim Kornick, a Northmarq senior vice president, in a statement. "And only two were sold during the entire year 2009. We are beginning to sense a tremendous demand for stable cash-flowing assets in the area. We already have another similar property under contract."

He added that the deal also underscores the strength of the medical office market during a period of limited investment sales and limited debt availability.

The building, at 700 Geipe Road, is 94 percent occupied and anchored by St. Agnes Healthcare, which is a part of the Ascension Health System. The lower level of the building is leased through 2015 to the U.S. Postal Service for a mail sorting and van storage facility.

The center was built in 1969 and rebuilt in 1998 as a build-to-suit outpatient medical facility for St. Agnes Hospital.

BioMed Realty Trust buys two buildings for $14.4M

BioMed Realty Trust of San Diego has acquired a pair of laboratory buildings in Gaithersburg for $14.4 million.

RREEF North America, a real estate asset management subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, sold 55 and 65 W. Watkins Mill Road, which total 82,400 square feet and sit in the I-270 bioscience corridor.

"The West Watkins property represents an excellent investment for BioMed, expanding our footprint in Montgomery County, one of the world's most vibrant and productive life science markets," said Alan D. Gold, BioMed's chairman and CEO, in a press release.

"The acquisition adds two premier tenants, MedImmune and GenVec, to BioMed's Maryland tenant roster, which already includes world-renowned life science companies Human Genome Sciences, Novavax and Eisai," Gold said.

The two buildings are fully leased by MedImmune, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, and GenVec, which develops gene-based therapeutic drugs and vaccines. The acquisition increases BioMed's presence in Maryland to about 1.2 million rentable square feet, which is 100 percent leased.

Martek expands HQ in Columbia

Martek Biosciences is expanding its headquarters in Columbia, according to Scheer Partners of Rockville, which negotiated the deal.

The company, which markets nutritional products, will take on an additional 20,000 square feet at 6480 Dobbin Road, which is owned by Preston Partners. Scheer represented Martek in the 86,367-square-foot lease, which includes administrative, laboratory and technical space.

Adam Nachlas, formerly a senior vice president with Scheer Partners who now works at Manekin Corp., was the lead broker representing Martek in its new lease. Scheer touted the lease as a sign of the strength of the region's life science sector's recovery.

"This company is one of the most successful health-care businesses in Maryland, and the fact that Martek continues to expand even in a sluggish economy demonstrates how well it is performing," said Robert Scheer, founder and president of Scheer Partners, in a statement. "Executing a lease of this size is a tremendous accomplishment."

Deer Park office complex to be sold by First Potomac

First Potomac Realty Trust announced that it has contracted to sell its Deer Park office complex in Randallstown for an undisclosed price in a deal that will result in a $2.5 million charge against income.

The Bethesda company disclosed the potential sale in its earnings announcement last week. The company said that its funds from operations fell in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $7.2 million, down from $11.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2008.

First Potomac suffered a 10.4 percent drop in net operating income for its Maryland properties last year, primarily due to an increase in vacancy and reserves for anticipated bad debt expense, particularly in the Baltimore area.

The Deer Park property, a 171,000-square-foot four-building site on Liberty Road, was acquired as part of a larger portfolio in 2004.

Re-Form signs for 130,000 square feet

Office space manager Re-Form signed to lease 130,000 square feet of warehouse and office at the Point Breeze Business Park in Baltimore, according to Preston Partners, the building's owner.

Michael Spedden, senior vice president of Preston Partners, represented the tenant.

Re-Form offers office furniture services, including remanufacturing, space planning, project management, asset management, pickup, delivery and installation. Re-Form serves the Maryland, Delaware, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., markets.

Commercial real estate news items may be mailed to: Steve Monroe, The Business Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; e-mailed to smonroe@gazette.net; or faxed to 301-670-7183.