Industrial developer Preston Partners has a major national tenant to anchor its Hollins End Corporate Park in Baltimore County.
FedEx has committed to leasing a new 125,000-square-foot building on 16 acres in the business park, David Scheffenacker Jr., president of Baltimore-based Preston Partners, said Wednesday at the park.
“I guarantee they don?t go anywhere unless they study it up and down,” Scheffenacker said. “If they think it?s a good location, it?s probably a good location.”
FedEx?s decision to open a new FedEx Ground location is a good sign for the potential of Hollins End, part of Preston Partners? $100 million redevelopment of two neighboring industrial parks in Halethorpe.
Preston Partners has begun redeveloping the 51-acre Hollins End Corporate Park, a former grocery warehouse-distribution center for A&P on Hollins Ferry Road.
Inaddition to the FedEx building, the project includes the renovation of a 300,000-square-foot warehouse and construction of up to six buildings ranging from 20,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet.
Preston Partners is also renovating Hollins End East Corporate Park across the street. The six-building, 517,000-square-foot distribution park is currently fully leased, home to companies such as Northrop Grumman, Norandex, Barton Cotton, Star Sales and Cowan Transportation.
“This is industrial renaissance,” said Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, who got an aerial view of the project Wednesday during a helicopter ride with Scheffenacker and Baltimore County Councilman Sam Moxley.
“I was in this building a year ago,” Smith said of the 300,000-square-foot warehouse. “It was the darkest, scariest place ? there were rats here. It wasn?t the prettiest place.”
Since 2007, redevelopment in Baltimore County?s Southwest Enterprise Zone has led to the creation of more than 670 new jobs, Smith said.
The developer said it could build six smaller buildings at Hollins End or even one 400,000-square-foot building, depending on the tenant.
“The one thing we really like about the park ? it?s totally flexible,” said Michael Spedden, senior vice president of Preston Partners.
acannarsa@baltimore
examiner.com
