Jackson-Shaw Starts 125-Acre Brick Yard MXD

(Read more on the industrial market and more on the multifamily market.)

BELTSVILLE, MD-Jackson-Shaw Co. has acquired the 125-acre site of the former Washington Brick Co. and gained approval for a mixed-use development. Called the Brick Yard in reflection of its previous occupant, it is designed to contain 750,000 sf of flex/light industrial space and 1,300 residences in a mix of multifamily, townhouse and single-family units.

“There will also be from 10,000 sf to 30,000 sf of neighborhood retail,” says Tom Aylward, VP of development for the Dallas-based company, who operates from its Lanham office. He declines to disclose an estimated construction cost for the project, but says, “it is valued at $500 million.” The land, some of which spills into neighboring Laurel, was acquired in two separate transactions from as many entities, and Aylward tells GlobeSt.com the cost was about $8.75 per sf, which would put the total tally at just north of $47.6 million.

The brick plant opened in the 1930s and ceased manufacturing in 1992, although mining for clay continued there until recently. Just one existing structure, a brick office building of about 15,000 sf, will remain “and be converted into a coffee shop,” Aylward says. “There’s also a silo we’re not quite sure what to do with yet,” he adds. The other structures “are flat now, and we’re recycling the steel and concrete for use at the site,” he says.

The commercial space will be split among 11 buildings. Aylward says, although the initial design is for flex/light industrial, “we’ve had some interest in pure office, so, in later phases, some may be office.” An initial three of these buildings, aggregating 150,000 sf, will deliver in March.

The plan calls for two multifamily buildings with an aggregate of 870 apartments, 51 single-family homes, and 379 townhouses in a multiple of attached-unit structures. The single-family and townhouses are for-sale units, and the apartments may be rental or for sale, Aylward says. The first residential units will deliver in late 2009.

The complex will be constructed in phases, and the exact timeline of each will be based on market demand. Aylward expects full build out will be completed within three to five years.