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Corporate Office Properties Trust of Columbia broke ground Monday on North Gate Business Park in Harford County, which it expects to lease quickly as defense contractors take space next to the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The trust has two buildings under development, the first totaling 80,000 square feet with an anticipated completion date of fourth quarter 2009 and the second totaling 85,000 square feet with an anticipated completion date of second quarter 2010.

When completed, the complex will total 765,000 square feet, including a small portion of retail space. The business park is on Route 22 at the north entrance of the proving ground, which is slated for expansion under the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure program.

"We are excited to begin our development at North Gate Business Park in support of the BRAC-related tenant demand coming to the area," Randall M. Griffin, president and CEO, said in a press release.

Although the project is considered speculative, the developer has been touting it as a sure thing, thanks to all the military contractors that will move to the area as the base expands.

"We would expect some fairly significant pre-leasing to occur as we start [buildings A and B] and followed by some early on leasing in C as we get going on that building," CFO Stephen E. Riffee said during an earnings conference call last month. "I think generally, we're going to be in pretty good shape."

Under BRAC, about 8,200 jobs will come to the proving ground itself and thousands more contractors are expected to seek space near the base.

Industrial center planned

for Baltimore landfill site

The Baltimore Development Corp. announced it is negotiating with a developer to build an industrial and warehouse business park atop the former Bowleys Lane Landfill and Eastern Sanitation Yard.

The project in the northeast corner of the city would include a 423,800-square-foot complex called the Moravia Business Center. The five-building project would include 308,000 square feet of light industrial-warehouse space and 115,800 square feet of flex space.

The estimated $31.7 million development is the winning bid submitted by Chesapeake Real Estate Group and McCrary Development. The joint venture was one of two bidders that responded to a request for proposals issued in December.

"The Chesapeake Real Estate Group-McCrary Development team's proposal achieves the city's economic development objectives of job creation and tax generation, fitting within the context of the site and its surrounding neighborhoods," said corporation president M.J. "Jay" Brodie.

The site, in the city's Frankford neighborhood, covers about 82 acres, 55 of which were formerly used for landfill operations, which ceased in 1985. The property is surrounded on the north and east by row houses and apartment complexes.

Bakery Express opens

new plant in Halethorpe

Bakery Express has opened a new commercial plant in Baltimore County's Southwest Enterprise Zone, consolidating operations from three other sites, according to the county.

The company, which supplies 1,100 7-Eleven stores in the mid-Atlantic region, as well as restaurants and nonprofits, is the lead tenant for the new 210,000-square-foot building in Halethorpe. The move brings 300 new jobs to the area.

The building, at 4711 Hollins Ferry Road, was developed by Merritt Properties of Baltimore.

"We're pleased to be able to contribute to the success of this project with a significant loan to Bakery Express from Baltimore County's business loan funds," said Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. in a statement.

Georgetown Bakery Management Corp., parent of Bakery Express, received a $500,000 loan from the county's Small Business Loan Partnership and a $250,000 loan from the county's Business Growth Fund. The loans allowed the company to purchase the 13-acre property and build out the new facility.

Manekin gives thanks for

completing new Safeway

Manekin Construction has completed construction on a new Safeway store in Arnold, just in time for shoppers to pick up their holiday turkeys.

"In order for the store to open before Thanksgiving, we trimmed two and a half months off the production schedule," said Craig Wess, president of Manekin Construction of Columbia. "It was a team effort that required many of our subcontractors to work double shifts."

The 53,000-square-foot building is more than twice the size of the previous store and includes its own Starbucks, Bergmann's Dry Cleaners and SunTrust Bank branch. Customers can park in front of the store or in the garage underneath.

Also this year, Manekin completed a 52,644-square-foot Safeway in Kensington and it previously built a 58,860-square-foot Safeway on Kent Island.

Fitzgerald at UB Midtown

starts to rise

Ground was broken last week for the mixed-used development The Fitzgerald at UB Midtown in Baltimore, a $75 million project headed by The Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt and Gould Property Co. of Washington.

The project, north of the Mount Vernon neighborhood, is to have 280 luxury apartments and about 14,000 square feet of retail, and be completed by the fall of 2010.

HarVest Bank

consolidates offices

HarVest Bank of Maryland has made a 10-year lease agreement with Minkoff Development Corp. to lease about 8,150 square feet in Gaithersburg and move its corporate headquarters there early next year, consolidating its administrative offices.

"We have outgrown our current space and look forward to consolidating the commercial lending, accounting and finance and executive groups into one central location," said president and CEO John P. Hollerbach in a statement. He said the bank, which is also consolidating its retail operations in space near its Germantown branch next year, would seek to sublease its current headquarters space on Shady Grove Road in Rockville.

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.