Currwood Logistics Park, comprising 195 acres and located at 217 S. Edgewood Drive near US Route 40 in Washington County, to be delivered in fall 2023 and result in up to new 1,500 jobs upon full occupancy
Harris Lopato, Curated Development Group; Paul Yoo, Birchwood Capital Partners; David Strouse, Birchwood Capital Partners; David Bramble, MCB Real Estate; Drew Gorman, MCB Real Estate; Mike Trail, MCB Real Estate; Peter Pinkard, MCB Real Estate and Chris Cleghorn, Invesco Real Estate
A joint venture partnership led by an affiliate of Baltimore-based MCB Real Estate LLC has initiated construction on Currwood Logistics Park, a two-building business community located in Hagerstown, Maryland which, upon delivery in fall late 2023, will comprise approximately two million square feet of industrial/warehouse/logistics space. Both single-story buildings — one nearly 1.7 million square feet and the other a 300,000 square foot building — are being developed simultaneously on a speculative basis. Additional real estate entities involved in the partnership include global real estate investment manager Invesco Real Estate, Curated Development Group and Birchwood Capital Partners. Nearly 1,500 new jobs are expected to be created by the companies and end-users signing leases at the 195-acre business community situated at 217 S. Edgewood Drive near US Route 40 in Washington County.
Hagerstown Mayor Emily Keller
Fronting S. Edgewood Drive, the single-story concrete tilt-wall buildings features 36- to 40-foot clear ceiling heights and are designed to achieve low operating costs through the incorporation of LED lighting, high-efficiency heating and ventilation systems, enhanced interior insulation and other state-of-the-art energy-saving features. Both sites feature 185-foot truck courts to support the movement of large tractor trailers and segregated parking fields reserved for employee and visitor parking. The nearly 1.7 million square foot building is equipped with 196 dock doors and four drive-in doors, an alternate-energy ready roof structure designed to accommodate a photovoltaic solar array, and parking for 314 tractor-trailers and 970 vehicles. The nearly 300,000 square foot building features parking for 117 tractor-trailers and 198 vehicles.
Each building’s oversized floorplates are suitable for a diverse array of light manufacturing, warehouse, logistics and last-mile delivery operations and can accommodate both single- and multi-tenant users. Power and conduit connections will be provided to maintain Electric Vehicle charging stations at both sites.
“Our team is proceeding with this development program with tremendous confidence, based on the strong fundamentals that exist in the Western Maryland and Washington County region, the continued strength of the industrial/warehouse asset class regionally, the business community’s strategic location near a major axis of highways providing access to consumers throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest sections of the country, and the presence of a highly-skilled labor market,” explained P. David Bramble, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of MCB Real Estate, LLC.
The partnership, represented by David Bramble, presented a check to Hagerstown Community College and Dr. Ashley Whaley to support students learning construction trades
“The greater Hagerstown and Washington County market continues to outperform other sections of the country as reflected by the current 3.8 percent vacancy rate among all industrial/warehouse product,” Bramble added. “We are extremely optimistic about the leasing prospects for these buildings, based upon the continued strong demand among end-users for last-minute logistics requirements and the relative difficulty in acquiring and entitling shovel-ready sites in the state. Demand currently outpaces supply in this product type as many end-users have adjusted their supply chain from just-in-time to product-on-hand inventory, as driven by the increased ecommerce habits of the American consumer and next-day or same-day delivery demands.”
The Currwood Logistics Park development team is investing in the construction of a new signalized intersection at US Route 40, as well as a new four-lane extension of Paul Smith Boulevard that extends to another new signalized intersection at Edgewood Drive which will serve as the project’s entrance.
“We appreciate the overwhelming support exhibited by The City of Hagerstown and Washington County officials and have pledged to do our part to improve the infrastructure serving Currwood Logistics Park, and to minimize the impact of traffic in the immediate area,” Bramble stated. “The entire region will benefit from the ripple effect of new economic development activity that spurs the creation of new jobs and the influx of taxes.”
Students from the Barbara Ingram School of Arts
Washington County and Greater Hagerstown demographics
According to the Washington County Department of Business Development, more than 320,000 people live in the County, with 160,000 people employed with an average household income of more than $70,000 and nearly 20,000 commuters entering the region on a daily basis. Major area employers include Amazon, Citi, FedEx Ground, Fiserv, Meritus Health Center, and Volvo Group Trucks.
Maryland’s sixth largest city, Hagerstown is located less than a one-hour drive from Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Approximately 40 per cent of the population of the United States can be accessed within a one-day truck drive via Interstates 70 and 81, including Philadelphia (150 miles), Pittsburgh (155 miles), New York City (240 miles), Boston (450 miles), Chicago (615 miles) and Atlanta (640 miles). Hagerstown is also served by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Intermodal Facilities and includes FedEx, UPS and YRC Ground and Freight Hubs.
“The City of Hagerstown is proud to have Currwood Logistics Park breaking ground in our community,” stated Emily Keller, Mayor of the City of Hagerstown. “Our city is happy to have them as a partner that shares in our vision of a thriving Hagerstown with robust job opportunities and strong economic development projects like this.”
According to data from Cushman & Wakefield, approximately four million square feet of warehouse/industrial space is currently under construction in the I-81 submarket. Amazon, The Home Depot, Staples and Tempur Sealy are among the companies which operate large national distribution centers in the Hagerstown area.
E-commerce consumer shopping habits fueling warehouse demand
Changes in consumer shopping habits fueled by the recent healthcare crisis and the forced lockdown of residents resulted in US ecommerce sales eclipsing the $1 trillion mark, marking an all-time high, a trend that rose steadily over the past five years and dramatically accelerated over the past 18 months. Retail real estate experts now consider shopping patterns to have permanently changed and, according to information released by the US Census Bureau, more than 13 percent of all retail purchases now come via digital orders.
Cushman& Wakefield has been selected as the exclusive leasing broker for this leasing requirement, with David Dannenfelser and Tyler Boykin, Managing Directors in the Baltimore office, and Adam Campbell, Executive Vice Chairman in the Harrisburg office, jointly handling the assignment.
Real estate partnership company information
MCB Real Estate, LLC is a privately-held, institutionally-capitalized commercial real estate firm based in Baltimore, Maryland. MCB owns and operates more than 10 million square feet of industrial, office, mixed-use, retail, and residential properties. MCB’s development and construction professionals have more than 150 years of combined experience across 44 million square feet of commercial and residential assets and have nearly 4 million square feet in the development pipeline. www.mcbrealestate.com
Invesco Real Estate is a global leader in the real estate investment management business with $89.9 billion in real estate assets under management, 577 employees and 21 regional offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia (as of June 30, 2022). Invesco Real Estate was established in 1983 and today invests across the risk return spectrum, from core to opportunistic; in equity and debt; listed and direct; locally and globally. Invesco Real Estate is a business name of Invesco Advisers, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. Invesco Ltd. is an independent investment management firm dedicated to delivering an investment experience that helps people get more out of life. NYSE: IVZ. www.invesco.com
Based in Baltimore, Curated Development Group is a privately-owned commercial real estate developer, owner and investor focused on commercial and residential raw land and acquiring existing value-add and opportunistic asset types. Founded by Harris Lopato in 2017, the company is presently developing approximately 1.5 million square feet of real estate. www.curateddevelopmentgroup.com
Birchwood Capital Partners is a commercial real estate investment and advisory firm headquartered in Baltimore, with a focus on Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern markets. With two distinct divisions, Birchwood Finance and Birchwood Investments, its team provides debt and equity solutions, as well as guidance in evaluating investment opportunities. The group was founded by David Strouse in 2010. www.birchcp.com
