BALTIMORE, MD-Leasing and investment activity slowed in the Baltimore area in the four quarter of 2013 but that state of affairs is expected to change shortly: according to Jones Lang LaSalle a major REIT is expected to close on the sale of a 6.6 million-square-foot East Coast portfolio that includes more than one million square feet of Baltimore area office product.

Even without this transaction, the long-term picture for the market is good. "As we move into the New Year, developers and tenants alike are expected to respond to the positive economic indicators with increased confidence," says Mark Levy, JLL's managing director and Baltimore Market Leader. "Select Baltimore markets and submarkets are positioned extremely well to take advantage of this anticipated growth and activity."

Indeed, signs about the market's health proliferate. A 150,000-square-foot building that has yet to deliver is a fully-pre-leased, JLL reports. Also, T. Rowe Price has signed a letter of intent to stay in the 427,000 square feet it is leasing at 100 East Pratt St.

JLL notes that this move has helped stabilize the Pratt Street Corridor and could facilitate the sale of 1 East Pratt, the 352,000 square foot building that went on the market in October.