April 18, 2022

As Armada Hoffler’s Harbor Point stake hits $1B, CEO says firm is committed to Baltimore

Louis Haddad stood quietly near the site for T. Rowe Price Group Inc.’s future global headquarters at Harbor Point and scanned the waterfront in a rare life-comes-full-circle moment.

The CEO of Virginia-based Armada Hoffler Properties was in Baltimore last month to kick off development of T. Rowe Price’s 550,000-square-foot offices that will lure the blue-chip investment house out of the central business district in 2024. That project, alongside adding a new hotel, 1,370-space parking garage and 350-unit apartment complex, will vault Armada Hoffler (NYSE: AHH) into an elite class: it soon will hold a $1 billion stake in the 27-acre peninsula.

Haddad is no stranger to the city. Armada Hoffler’s construction crews first arrived in Baltimore in the mid-1990s to build Harbor East for the late John Paterakis. With landmarks like 1001 Fleet St, the Four Seasons Hotel and the Legg Mason tower, to name a few, under its belt, the firm struck a new partnership with Michael Beatty about a decade ago to develop Harbor Point after the Paterakis family gave up development rights.

That led to a series of four acquisitions at Harbor Point, Haddad said, starting with the $100 million deal for Thames Street Wharf and capped by last year’s record-setting purchase of the Exelon tower for $246 million. Beatty Development Group maintains its ownership of the 27-acre site and minority ownership of the properties.

When the T. Rowe Price headquarters is completed and the new apartments, hotel and garage open, Armada Hoffler’s holdings at Harbor Point will total the second largest in the firm’s portfolio next to its signature mixed-use, 17-block Town Center of Virginia Beach.

“This is exactly the kind of development we want to own for the long-term,” Haddad said, of Harbor Point. “It is a safe, high-quality place for people to live, work and play.”

Full article on bizjournals.com