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Home Properties of New York disclosed it bought The Greens at Columbia, a 168-unit garden apartment complex for $25.6 million, continuing a trend of investors from outside the region snapping up rental properties.

The deal, detailed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, included assuming a mortgage of $9.6 million from M&T Realty Capital Corp./Fannie Mae.

Maryland rental properties are a big draw for investors, especially in the Washington suburbs, according to the third-quarter apartment report by broker Marcus & Millichap. Although vacancies increased 0.7 percent to 6 percent during the second quarter, that reflected a bullish trend because of increased supply growth, the company said.

Asking rents in Maryland averaged $1,254 per month, a gain of 0.9 percent, while effective rents rose 0.7 percent to $1,171 per month.

Construction remains off from a few years ago, as developers prefer to invest in existing properties such as The Greens. The 187,952-square-foot property at 12215 Little Patuxent Parkway was completed in 1987, but recently it had a $2 million renovation that included new roofs, water heaters, heating, ventilation and air conditioning units, refrigerators, stoves and other interior work, according to CB Richard Ellis Group, which brokered the transaction.

"The property is well located, well maintained and has great floor plans with excellent opportunity for long-term value enhancement," John E. Smith, senior vice president and chief investment officer at Home Properties, said in a statement.

The deal follows Home Properties' acquisition of the 282-unit Annapolis Roads apartment complex in Annapolis for $32.5 million in June.

Elsewhere, the Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt is moving fast on new apartment construction, announcing a $200 million mixed-use development plan on the Catholic University campus in Washington, D.C. The project is the first deal under a $75 million joint venture announced last month with the Pritzker Realty Group, a Chicago real estate investment company.

The Catholic University campus complex involves transforming five city blocks, with plans for about 720 residential units, 45 townhouses, 83,000 square feet of street-level retail, 15,000 square feet of artist studio space, a 3,000-square-foot community arts center and 850 parking spaces.

City Place Mall sells for $22.8M

Hutensky Capital Partners of Hartford, Conn., bought the struggling City Place Mall for $22.8 million and plans to reposition the discount center that sits in the middle of downtown Silver Spring.

The 350,000-square-foot property, acquired from Petrie Ross Ventures of Annapolis on July 30, is anchored by Burlington Coat Factory and Marshalls, providing a down-market contrast to the neighboring Ellsworth Drive retail and restaurant offerings. The mall is a vestige of Silver Spring's past, when county officials struggled to put together the financial and political capital to transform the downtown area before Discovery Communications agreed to relocate next to the Metro station.

Walter Petrie became the sole owner of City Place Mall when he bought out his development partners in 2008.

When the Peterson Cos. of Fairfax, Va., redeveloped Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street as an open-air center, City Place failed to keep pace.

"You have an area that's been very successful, and I think this building can, with some work, kind of become a more important part of that because of the activity," said Brad Hutensky, president and principal of the Hutensky Group.

Hutensky cited City Place Mall's vibrant, urban location in the heart of downtown Silver Spring as a main factor in the company's decision to acquire the property.

Hutensky Capital Partners hired Petrie Ross Ventures to manage City Place Mall, lease the property and work on a redevelopment plan to make the site more productive.

Shoppers Food moving headquarters to Bowie

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy plans to move its corporate headquarters from Lanham to Bowie by October.

The company plans to move into the St. John Properties' Maryland Science and Technology Center @ Melford business park at routes 301 and 50.

"They liked the site, the amenities and the location," Bowie Mayor G. Frederick Robinson said Wednesday. "They looked at a couple of areas, and this matched their needs and interests."

"We will have approximately 130 office and 30 field staff located in Bowie," Shoppers spokesman Steve Sylven said in an e-mail Thursday. "Leaving Prince George's Country was never a consideration for us as we wanted to remain in the region that is central to our operations. Our lease at the Lanham location was up and we were looking to upgrade our office.

"In doing so, we felt it very important ... that we survey our associates to determine which improvements they felt were needed to create the best working environment possible. The Bowie location provides the state-of-the-art facilities as well as the amenities we were looking for in a new headquarters in addition to being even closer to the heart of our operations."

Shoppers operates more than 60 supermarkets in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.

The company plans to lease 25,000 square feet in the Melford Plaza II office building and 2,520 square feet on Telsa Drive for distribution-related work, said Al Cunniff, marketing director for St. John Properties.

Hogan Cos. to market 660-acre site on Eastern Shore

The Hogan Cos. of Annapolis announced it is helping in the sale of a 660-acre parcel in Greensboro, with an asking price of $12.75 million.

The property is one of the largest contiguous industrially zoned tracts in the state, and also might be suitable for both residential and commercial development, according to Hogan information.

In other company news, the company has been asked by Ruark Homes to market the Villages at Nutters Crossing community for $10 million.

The property is a 268-acre proposed residential community southeast of Salisbury, across from the existing Nutters Crossing golf course and housing community.

Staff Writers Alison Bryant and Virginia Terhune contributed to this report.

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.