EAST BALTIMORE-A construction financing package valued at $84 million has closed for Canton Crossing Tower. The approximately 500,000-sf office building that will serve as the centerpiece of the 67-acre mixed-use Canton Crossing development endeavor.
MacKenzie Capital LLC, the real estate financing division of MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services LLC, orchestrated the loan on behalf of the borrower, project developer Edwin F. Hale Sr. of Hale Properties. Construction of Canton Crossing Tower is currently in progress. Hale's Canton Crossing is located along the waterfront near I-895 and I-95. The undertaking will result in 1.5 million sf of office space, 270,000 sf of retail and restaurant space, 500 residential units and a 450-room hotel. Whitney, Bailey, Cox & Magnani LLC and Arium Architects are overseeing the design of Canton Crossing, while Gilbane Building is occupying the role of construction manager for the project.
Canton Crossing Tower will be a 17-story structure of class A office space, part of which will be occupied by First Mariner Bank, which increased its prelease of space in the tower for its headquarters to 74,000 sf last November. Trammell Crow is handling the leasing for the building.
The demand for office space in Baltimore remains strong--the vacancy rate in East Baltimore is about 4.5%, according to CB Richard Ellis' Fourth Quarter 2005 Baltimore Office MarketView report. However, the market for borrowing, though still desirable, is not quite as advantageous as it was a year ago. "The 10-year Treasury is hovering around 4.85%, which is about a 75 basis point increase since June 2005," Mackenzie Capital senior VP and principal Glenn Ercole notes. "There is plenty of liquidity in the marketplace and borrowers are finally realizing the low-interest rate environment is coming to an end."
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