St. Johns Properties Inc., a Baltimore-based commercial real estate developer, has broken ground on a new $31 million office park that will add more than 313,000 square feet of flex-office space in Anne Arundel County.
Called Arundel Overlook, the 68-acre park is located near the intersections of MD 100 and MD 295 and is adjacent to the Arundel Mills shopping mall. It marks the developer?s 12th business park in the county and the sixth in the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport submarket.
“We have a very large presence in the BWI corridor,” company Senior Vice President Jerry Wit said. “Anytime we find a well-situated piece of land, we try to buy it and bring another project to the market.”
Wit said that the demand for commercial space would further increase as the area is expected to be hit with an influx of new employees. According to a recent Towson University study, Anne Arundel County will be the beneficiary of nearly 13,000 new jobs during the next 10 years as a result of the national Base Realignment And Closure program.
“Anne Arundel County is kind of a perfect storm for economic development at the moment,” Wit said.
When completed, the new office park will consist of eight flex-office space buildings, which are single-story structures with front office space, with space in the building?s back for assembling, storing and manufacturing. The park will also include a woodland preserve with walking trails and picnic benches. The project is slated for completion by the end of 2008.
“I think that St. Johns Properties recognizes the health of the commercial real estate market in Anne Arundel County,” said Sarah Boone, vice president of business development at the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. “It?s a win-win. It?s a win for St. Johns Properties and it?s a win for Anne Arundel County.”
Already under construction, the first two buildings, which total 75,000 square feet, are expected to be operational by year?s end, Wit said. The company has already signed one tenant, said Wit, who declined to disclose the tenant?s identity.
