BELCAMP, MD-Sephora has signed an industrial lease for 70,133 square feet at 4611 Mercedes Dr., located within Riverside Business Park. The 178,133-square-foot facility, owned by DCT Industrial, is now fully-leased.

Christopher Wright, director at Cushman & Wakefield in Baltimore, represented Sephora in the deal. CBRE’s Adam Weidner represented the building owner.

Sephora is one of many industrial tenants in this submarket that has been searching for new or additional space, Wright tells GlobeSt.com. “This is a small submarket so any new tenant or any new building that comes online will make a difference,” he says. Procter & Gamble is looking to expand from 500,000 square feet to one million square feet, he says. Kohl’s, which owns an industrial facility here, is also looking to expand, either via build to suit or through a lease. For its part, Sephora was looking for enough building space and parking for its employees, which is why it chose 4611 Mercedes Dr., Wright says.

One reason for the activity is that Belcamp’s location in Hartford County--north of Baltimore--is very favorable for industrial operations. “Hartford County is one of the fastest growing counties in Maryland,” Wright says. Also, the local workforce is well suited for specialized industrial operations. That was one of Kohl’s considerations as it weighed its building purchase, Wright explains. For these reasons, new product is coming online, including at least one spec building, he adds.

For all the flux in supply and demand dynamics, Wright points out that leasing rates have remained stable in this submarket. “They are still pretty much where they have been for the last three to four years, at $4.25 per square foot, triple net.”