70-acre industrial development site in Maryland sells

BALTIMORE, Jan. 27, 2021 – JLL announced today that it has closed the sale of a 70-acre industrial development site that is one of the last undeveloped parcels at the intersection of Interstates 81 and 70 in the highly sought-after I-81 Industrial Corridor in Hagerstown, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania and West Virginia borders.

JLL worked on behalf of the seller, Washco Management. Penzance purchased the fully entitled site. Additionally, JLL has been engaged to source construction financing and lease the property on behalf of the developer, who is planning to begin construction of an 825,000-square-foot Class A distribution building on the site this spring.

The development site is along Wright Road at the Intersection of Interstates 81 and 70 in Hagerstown, which is approximately 3.5 miles north of the Maryland-West Virginia border and 8.5 miles south of the Maryland-Pennsylvania borders. The property also is part of the I-81 Corridor Industrial market, which encompasses Berkeley County, West Virginia; Frederick and Winchester Counties in Virginia; and Washington County, Maryland. This is a highly sought-after location due to its proximity to four major ports on the East Coast, helping the I-81 Corridor establish itself as a logistics and distribution hub.

The site is approved for an 825,000-square-foot warehouse with substantial auto and trailer parking. Additionally, the Washington County government, in the conjunction with the developer and funded entirely by Federal grants, will be realigning Wright Road to increase the number of access points to the site to allow for approved connectivity to Interstates 81 and 70, which are less than one mile away. A future tenant will have the ability to reach one-third of the country’s population within a one-day’s truck drive.

The JLL Capital Markets Investment Advisory team representing the seller included Managing Director Jay Wellschlager, Senior Managing Director Bruce Strasburg, Director Craig Childs and Analyst Elizabeth Runge. Managing Director Dave Dannenfelser and Vice President Tyler Boykin provided local market expertise. Michael Morehead, Vice President of JLL’s Project and Development Service, provided guidance on site and development costs.

“With entitlements in hand, the site has the advantage of speed-to-market, among other options,” Wellschlager said. “Combined with the strong recent leasing activity from major corporate occupiers, the interest in the site was significant. Penzance rightly saw an opportunity to capture this momentum. The I-81 Corridor Industrial market has 3.6 percent vacancy, which is well below the national average, and industrial owners are currently seeing 5.2 percent rent growth year-over-year, which is phenomenal.”

The JLL Debt Placement team working arranging the financing for the developer is being led by Senior Director Rob Carey, Senior Managing Director Susan Carras and Senior Director Paul Spellman. 

The JLL Agency Leasing team that will handle the leasing assignment consists of Dannenfelser, Senior Managing Directors Todd Hughes and John Dettleff and Vice President Dan Coats.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the shelter-in-place policies that ensued have accelerated e-commerce growth and the need for warehouse space across the nation. JLL expects e-commerce sales could hit $1.5 trillion by 2025, which would increase the demand for industrial real estate to an additional 1 billion square feet.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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