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After witnessing a year of Americans isolating, distancing and generally feeling uneasy about sharing indoor spaces, some developers believe biophilic design could help revive workplaces and public spaces in the post pandemic world.   COPT was in the midst of designing its Wayline building on Columbia Gateway Drive when the pandemic began. Although Wayline was already envisioned as…

The new normal in the retail real estate environment is complex. It includes the Darwinian nature of shopping malls, the casualization of America and the move to omni-channel marketing among retailers – three trends that were accelerated during, rather than caused by, the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers facing shelter-in-place and work-from-home orders had no choice than to turn…

Landlords need to continually gather input from and work closely with tenants, as well as utilize the latest technology as they implement protocols to reopen the workplace. Most importantly, as guidance from real estate and health organizations changes and new cleaning processes are introduced, building owners need to remain as transparent as possible.

The 2021 Maryland General Assembly session will be remembered, in part, for the extraordinary steps taken to legislate landlord tenant issues in the wake of the unprecedented interventions taken through executive order at the height of the COVID-19 emergency. Although the Assembly focused most of its legislative effort on residential leases, during the closing days of the session the Maryland House and Senate will decide the enforceability of personal liability clauses related to commercial leases.  …

From left to right: Scooter Monroe; Jason Schwartzberg; Owen Rouse Support for high-tech workers, urgent action by political leaders, better branding, equitable transportation and more assistance to local businesses: Those were some of the initiatives proposed during a CREDA roundtable discussion about “Building a Better Baltimore.”  The March-April…

Bolder thinking about development and more rigorous analyses of regulations will be needed to help the Anne Arundel County Council achieve its Plan2040 vision of creating healthy, thriving communities. That’s the argument currently being advanced by CREDA Maryland and others.  Plan2040, the county’s proposed General Development Plan, sets out a…

On a high-visibility site two miles from Anne Arundel Medical Center, St. John Properties’ decision to build a 100,000-square-foot, LEED Gold, state-of-the-art, medical office building on spec is paying off. In quick succession, St. John announced leases with Maryland Oncology Hematology, Chesapeake Medical Imaging, Chesapeake Urology, Kure Smart Pain…

Although commercial real estate, like nearly every sector, experienced economic setbacks in 2020, it remained a large and core driver of the U.S. economy. In 2020, new and existing CRE buildings combined contributed $1.01 trillion to the U.S. GDP, generated $338.1 billion in personal earnings and supported 8 million jobs. …

In Canton, 28 Walker Development is preparing to construct Baltimore’s first mass timber office building. Image courtesy of 28 Walker Development Asked how he feels about leading the first mass timber construction projects in Baltimore City, Chesapeake Contracting Group Vice President Dan Hannon replies, “Excited, beyond your wildest imagination.” …

From left to right: Scooter Monroe; Jason Schwartzberg; Owen Rouse What measures can be taken for Baltimore City to emerge from the pandemic stronger than before?   Scooter Monroe, Vice President, Head of Office Leasing, Weller Development Company; Owen Rouse, Vice President of Investment Sales, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services and Jason…