The office sector may have experienced a few challenging years. Yet winners of the NAIOP-MD Awards of Excellence managed to successfully complete development of a best-in-class Class A office building, fit out of an extraordinary regional headquarters in an older building, and a “speed to mission solution” for defense industry contractors.
Model fitout creates best-in-class workspace
Goals for the tenant fitout project at 10490 Little Patuxent Parkway were lofty and numerous.
Howard Hughes Communities’ new Regional Office needed to embody the history and culture of the Merriweather District and downtown Columbia. At the same time, the renovation needed to create a space that strengthened workplace culture and improved employee experience.
Howard Hughes, in collaboration with BCT Design Group and MacKenzie Contracting Company, transformed the 16,176-square-foot space into a bright, welcoming, human-centered and highly egalitarian workspace.
The open floorplan offers diverse, collaborative spaces—including a library, huddle rooms, café, gathering areas and a boardroom with glazed, moveable partitions. Natural materials, curated lighting and thoughtful layouts enhance comfort, light and connectivity.
A Fitwel-certified workplace, the office promotes wellbeing through natural light, improved airflow and wellness-focused amenities, while acoustical treatments and biophilic design elements, including live plants and organic motifs in finishes and fabrics, enhance comfort and indoor environmental quality.
Art is also key to the office design. Pieces include a Kiki Smith sculpture, Gail Holiday prints, a hand painted Columbia Development plan mural, and an interactive, rotating tile display that celebrates local history.
For project partners, the renovation became a model tenant fitout that demonstrated how a best-in-class workplace can be created in an older asset.
Featured in this article: Howard Hughes Communities, BCT Design Group, MacKenzie Contracting Group
Speculating on Class A office construction pays off
Despite challenges in the office market, leaders at St. John Properties and Greenebaum Enterprises knew that greenlighting their $15 million, speculative, Class A office building in Maple Lawn was the right business decision.
“While the overall office market in the region has been soft, we continue to see a flight to quality and strong demand for best-in-class office buildings in the right locations,” said Matt Lenihan, Executive Vice President of Leasing for St. John Properties.
Maple Lawn, Lenihan added, has posted strong occupancy rates and “building on spec allows us to be 18 to 24 months ahead of most competitors who are waiting for a tenant before commencing construction.”
8150 Maple Lawn Boulevard was designed to stand out, even among other best-in-class buildings in the region. The 86,143-square-foot building features a sleek, modern lobby with custom millwork and a dramatic open stairwell. LEED Gold certified, the building includes electric vehicle charging stations, a rooftop solar array and tenant balconies that overlook Maple Lawn Boulevard. The building is flanked by two large outdoor amenity areas with louvered pergolas, shade trees and a pavilion with seating.
The developers’ confidence in the project paid off. Within months of the project’s completion, Ciena Corporation, a publicly traded global technology company, signed a lease to occupy 28,132 square feet and turn the building’s third floor into its new global headquarters.
Featured in this article: St. John Properties, Greenebaum Enterprises and Ciena Corporation
Infill development yields speedy solution to market demand
Faced with strong office demand from government agencies and contractors near Fort George G. Meade, COPT Defense Properties devised and executed an innovative “speed to mission solution” for the defense industry.
COPT’s 4.2 million-square-foot National Business Park was over 98 percent leased with no functional inventory remaining.
“The next planned parcel required up to two years of design and entitlement work, along with extensive grading and infrastructure, delaying potential delivery well beyond market needs,” said W. Thomas Fahs, Vice President, Predevelopment and Master Planning, COPT Defense Properties. “To mitigate this risk, we took a creative approach and identified an underutilized surface parking area suitable for infill development.”
COPT developed plans to construct a five story, 146,000-square-foot, Class A building on the lot which was used by three existing buildings, and replace the parking space with a four-level garage.
“This solution enabled a new office building and shared parking structure to be delivered on an accelerated timeline and capture market demand,” Fahs said. However, “the primary challenge was making an infill development with structured parking financially viable. On average, a structured parking space costs three times the price of a surface parking space and is typically not supported through suburban lease rates.”
COPT overcame that challenge by conducting a parking utilization study. It revealed lower demand than the parking levels required by code or market norms. That data convinced Anne Arundel County Planning and Zoning to reduce parking requirements onsite.
Featured in this article: COPT Defense Properties and Fort George G. Meade