(L-R) Nicholas Salameda, Rockefeller Group; Lisa Goodwin, 1788 Holdings; Evan Parker, JLL Capital Markets; Chris Massey, Brennan Investment Group; Bobby Lanigan, Merritt Properties; D. Reid Townsend, MRP Industrial; Owen Rouse, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services
Owen Rouse, Senior Vice President, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services referenced the 1988 comedy “Big,” starring Tom Hanks, while moderating Bisnow’s recent Mid-Atlantic Industrial Summit, held at 8221 Preston Court, a 140,000 square foot warehouse building located within Baltimore-Washington Industrial Park in Jessup. “This morning, we have professionals with big resumes to talk about big projects with big footprints,” he told the audience numbering approximately 200. That set the tone for the discussion, with the panelists following his lead and expressing their big expectations for the industrial sector in the greater Baltimore market and beyond.
D. Reid Townsend is Co-Founder of MRP Industrial, a commercial real estate development company which has developed more than 60 buildings comprising over 26 million square feet of space. The Baltimore-based company expanded into the Charlotte market earlier this year. Townsend explained that, based on the availability of capital and tenant demand, “this is the most optimistic I have felt about the sector in the past three years.”
“Following tepid conditions in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan market, I definitely sense that the industrial sector has turned the corner,” Townsend explained, “based on the pace of our speculative development activity, quantity and quality of tenants with robust real estate requirements, and positive economic conditions in Maryland. In 2026, we will have commenced four new ground-up projects totaling more than 2.6 million square feet across the Mid-Atlantic.”
JJL’s Rob Maddux and Ben Meisels, with Owen Rouse, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services
He adds that “finding raw land to develop in Maryland is extremely difficult,” with MRP Industrial’s last three projects locally representing redevelopment plays. This includes the transformation of the former Seton Keough High School into City Logistics, a two-building, 300,000 square foot industrial park, as well as the ongoing redevelopment of the Guinness Open Gate Brewery manufacturing plant into Crossings 95, a nearly 500,000 square foot industrial business community.
Earlier this year, Lisa Goodwin rejoined 1788 Holdings, LLC as Principal with responsibility for building and overseeing the firm’s institutional investment platform. The Northern Virginia-headquartered company owns and manages approximately 40 assets, comprising more than two million square feet of space – including 88 IOS acres – with a market value exceeding $250 million.
“The current environment reminds me of pre-COVID conditions in many of the markets where we operate,” Goodwin said, but cautioned that it “is the tale of two cities in terms of acquisition opportunities.” Activity is significantly more robust for functional and well-located real estate with in-place tenants offering low weight average lease terms. Investment sales activity is more challenging among buildings which are functionally obsolete or long-term leased.
Goodwin said that 1788 Holdings employs an “extremely disciplined and measured approach” and primarily seeks “single- or multi- tenanted, high functional, light industrial buildings near major population centers.” She added, “If the site offers Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) land, we are particularly interested due to its scarcity and stickiness. Generally, tenants do not walk away from properties containing an IOS element.” Last month, an investment affiliate of 1788 Holdings acquired 51 Ritchie Road, a 103,000 square foot light industrial building in Prince George’s County, which included two acres of IOS land.
“Conditions vary substantially from market to market,” Goodwin said. “Highly-functional and well-located industrial buildings with good cap rates continue to trade well but, similar to other Mid-Atlantic real estate development and investment companies, we have significantly expanded our horizons when sourcing deals. Several markets in Texas have caught our attention, as has the Hampton Roads area, given its strong military and defense contractor presence. 2027 is looking extremely robust for investment sales activity, and we expect debt to be rolling.”
This summer, Bobby Lanigan was elevated to President of Merritt Properties, a commercial real estate investment company which has developed nearly 300 buildings, comprising more than 21 million square feet of space in Maryland, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia. With an emphasis on serving tenants in the 10,000 square foot range, Lanigan agreed with the positive sentiments expressed by the panelists including the notion that “building teardowns, rather than ground-up development, are fueling activities in the Maryland area.”
He cited the company’s redevelopment of the former Quest Diagnostics-occupied building in Baltimore County into Beltway Business Interchange, a nearly 115,000 square foot light industrial business park, as well as the company’s on-going redevelopment of the former General Motors assembly plant in White Marsh. White Marsh Interchange Park has been configured to support nine buildings comprising 750,000 square feet of industrial space.
“We are seeing an extremely long runway for growth in our expansion markets where we now operate,” Lanigan explained, “and, despite challenges, remain cautiously optimistic about the near and long-term.” He added that Merritt Properties is being “pushed out of the Northern Virginia market due to the encroachment of data centers,” but there is a silver lining to that scenario as well. “We had a record sale to a data center user and have shifted our focus toward the Stafford region,” he said.
He described the current “stress test for new development pro formas” currently in play to determine if underwriting assumptions and the capital stack maintains its integrity during the volatile interest rate environment.
During the session’s lightning round orchestrated by Rouse, the panelists made their final observations.
Channeling the iconic phrase “go west young man” to seek opportunities, MRP Industrial’s Townsend reiterated the company’s intent to “go south” when chasing real estate deals.
Merritt Properties’ Lanigan said “coming off a new capital infusion, we are hoping to be entering an environment that offers strong buying opportunities.”
1788 Holdings’ Goodwin is keeping an eye on the rising interest rates with fears that a market correction could be coming our way. This is why the company is doubling-down on its “measured and disciplined approach” to acquiring assets.
Additional panelists included Evan Parker, Senior Director, JLL Capital Markets; Chris Massey, Managing Principal, Brennan Investment Group; and Nicholas Salameda, Associate, Rockefeller Group.