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Australia's Macquarie CountryWide Trust announced it is selling back majority ownership of 86 shopping centers in Maryland and 16 other states to First Washington Realty Inc. of Bethesda and the California Public Employees' Retirement System in a deal worth $1.3 billion.

Joint venture Global Retail Investors sold the malls as part of a 100-property portfolio for $2.68 billion in 2005 to Macquarie and Regency Centers of Jacksonville, Fla. Regency, which will continue managing the properties, holds an option to boost its 25 percent share in the centers to 40 percent.

"We are pleased with the opportunity to once again own this pre-eminent national portfolio of neighborhood and community shopping centers," said William J. Wolfe, First Washington's president, in a statement. "It is a portfolio we know well and one which we believe offers the opportunity for highly attractive growth and returns over time."

The 11.5 million-square-foot portfolio includes 14 malls in Maryland. They range in size from the Firstfield Shopping Center in Gaithersburg, at 22,328 square feet, to the Valley Centre in Owings Mills, with 247,312 square feet. The full value of the portfolio is $1.73 billion.

The portfolio accounts for about 80 percent of Macquarie's assets in the U.S., which the firm last year said it was selling off to reduce short-term debt and focus its investments on Australia and New Zealand.

"In response to deteriorating real estate market fundamentals and the subdued refinancing market conditions expected to persist in the U.S. over the medium-term, a number of options were considered," said Steven Sewell, Macquarie CEO, in a statement. "It was determined that the sale of this particular portfolio would deliver the most substantial strengthening of the balance sheet."

When the three-phase deal is completed, it will eliminate about $1.1 billion in short-term debt.

Under the agreement, Macquarie will sell its 75 percent stake in the portfolio, with First Washington/CalPERS taking a 45 percent interest for $778.5 million by the end of July. The second phase involves the sale of a 20 percent interest for $346 million by the end of March, with 15 percent going to the joint venture and 5 percent more being sold to either Global Retail Investors or Regency.

The third phase involves either Regency or Global Retail having an option to purchase Macquire's remaining 10 percent.

COPT breaks ground on $35 million office building

Corporate Office Properties Trust broke ground on a 161,000-square-foot office building near Fort Meade, in what the company said is an expansion of its plans to provide space to accommodate thousands of new jobs tied to the Pentagon's base realignment program.

The $35 million project, expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2010, is part of the National Business Park, a 285-acre complex in Anne Arundel County at the intersection of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Route 32. The office center is immediately northwest of Fort Meade, where thousands of new military and contractor jobs are headed.

The new building is the third under construction at the office park, where 19 properties have been completed.

Elkton warehouse sells for $3.4 million

Real estate company Cushman & Wakefield of Baltimore announced the sale of a warehouse building in Elkton for $3.4 million to Micropore Inc. Matthew Laraway and Thomas Burns of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Mitsubishi Chemicals.

The 89,000-square-foot industrial warehouse building is in the Upper Chesapeake Corporate Center in Cecil County. The purchaser, Micropore, is a Delaware manufacturer of reactive plastics that incorporate various powders into a molded matrix. The company's first product uses a carbon dioxide absorbent powder that is formed into a cartridge to create a system used in rebreathing and life support applications.

Insurance firm relocating to BWI office park

Agency Holding Co., an insurance company in Linthicum Heights, is moving to new headquarters it bought nearby for $2.4 million, according to CSG Partners, which sold the building.

The 12,332-square-foot Class A property at 7450 Coca Cola Drive, is part of the Patapsco Valley Office Campus, a four-building business community off Route 100 in Howard County with about 135,000 square feet of space.

The entire building will be occupied by Agency, which provides personal insurance and insurance-related products in the mid-Atlantic region and Florida. The company expects to complete the move of 70 employees by the end of the year.

"Patapsco Valley Office Campus, specifically 7450 Coca Cola Drive, seemed to be ideal for AHC's headquarters operation." said Alan Grabush, principal for CSG, in a statement. "The ability to own a 12,000 square foot, free-standing office building — as opposed to an office condominium — just does not exist in the corridor."

McShea to handle 825,000-square-foot portfolio

Real estate company McShea & Co. of Gaithersburg said it has been selected by Abrams Development Group to provide exclusive leasing for its 825,000-square-foot portfolio of Class A office, flex and land/build-to-suit opportunities in Frederick.

Abrams' Frederick portfolio consists of five Class A office/flex buildings totaling 268,000 square feet, 15 proposed office/flex property sites with the capacity to accommodate 550,000 square feet, and one 5.5-acre site. All sites are off the Route 85 interchange of I-270 on New Design Road in the Westview Commons vicinity.

There are 700,000 square feet available for lease and 5.5 acres for sale, according to McShea information.

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.