BALTIMORE-Liberty Property Trust has finalized the sale of its 6.6 million-square foot east coast portfolio, of which Greenfield Partners LLC, a Connecticut-based real estate investment firm, is one of the buyers. The deal was a significant one for the local market--there is more than one million square feet of Baltimore area office product in it.

Last month we spoke with JLL about the impact this transaction would have on the market. The local experts, Research Director Patrick Latimer and Mark Levy, managing director and Baltimore Market Leader for JLL agreed it would be significant.

"What you have is a very significant buyer with a fairly large footprint here already and now will have a larger one," Levy told GlobeSt.com in January. "This deal changes who is controlling the market place."

This is not to say that Liberty's reign was a negative for the area and its departure suggests the market is stagnating. On the contrary for both counts. Baltimore is rapidly changing into a 24-7 work-play-live destination attractive to national investors, while Liberty is recycling capital to focus on other areas, Latimer says.

The point is this, they say: there are a lot of real estate groups in Baltimore changing their focus or strengthening their footholds here. "Anytime there is a change of this magnitude in the marketplace it creates opportunity for everyone," Levy says.

Meanwhile, the city's pipeline is robust. JLL noted in an earlier report that the conversion of obsolete office buildings into apartments in Baltimore city accelerated in the fourth quarter and was typified by 10-12 N Calvert St, which is 62% leased. "Previous conversions were limited to vacant buildings, but the 10-12 N Calvert is displacing up to 100,000 square feet of tenants, potentially helping fill some Class B product off Pratt Street," the report said.

Instant Insights /

Waiting for Change as Liberty Departs

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