Eastern Moving and Storage has acquired 8502 Kelso Drive in Essex, Maryland as part of its expansion in the Greater Baltimore region. The highly-visible property, adjacent to I-695 in Baltimore County, was previously home to Spunk Fitness.

By Melody Simmons – Senior Reporter, Baltimore Business Journal

A large property adjacent to the Port of Baltimore just traded for $11.1 million.

A 16.5-acre, U-shaped parcel at 1935 and 1999 Chesapeake Ave. sold to Miami-based Chesapeake Terminal Partners LLC in a deal that attracted several bids, said Jim Chivers, senior vice president of Gold and Co., who brokered the deal with Will McCullough. The anchor tenant is Amports Inc., a large vehicle processing and automotive logistics firm. The seller was two entities tied to local logistics and industrial investor BTR Capital Group, per state records.

“The property was active on the market for approximately a year,” Chivers told the Baltimore Business Journal on Wednesday. “It was very competitive with interested buyers both locally, nationally and internationally who showed interest in the site because of the industrial waterfront access and the long term leases in place.”

The parcel sits in the Fairfield Maritime Industrial District in South Baltimore and has a large flat-surface parking for new vehicle transports. The property at 1935 Chesapeake Ave. stretches 9.6 acres, while 1999 Chesapeake Ave. spans 6.9 acres, Chivers said. The properties are fully fenced, paved and lighted. There is a 400-foot bulkhead at the waterfront.

Amports has a long-term lease in place at the site for its roll-on/roll-off cargo port terminals, which offer pre-delivery vehicle inspections, accessory installations, electric vehicle handling, rail loading and secure fleet storage for new vehicle deliveries. The Port of Baltimore handles the second-most cars and light trucks of any U.S. port, second only to the Port of Brunswick in Georgia.

“This transaction underscores the long-term value of prime port property in Baltimore,” Chivers said. “We are continuing to see incredible activity and strong investment demand in the Fairfield Industrial District, which is heavily dominated by the auto processing industry where specialized waterfront industrial real estate with infrastructure remains a highly sought-after component of the global supply chain.”

The port handled close to $66 billion worth of cargo in 2025, the third-highest total ever, according to state transportation and port officials, and the facility continues to expand. This spring, the Maryland Port Administration spent $6 million to acquire over 17 acres near two of its existing terminals at 2400 Edgewater Ave. and 2701 Broening Highway. Port officials said that the properties that sit on Colgate Creek will figure into the agency’s developing master vision plan.

Gold and Company, LLC, a commercial real estate firm serving the Baltimore metropolitan area, has facilitated the sale of a waterfront industrial property at 1935 and 1999 Chesapeake Ave. in Baltimore.

By Melody Simmons – Senior Reporter, Baltimore Business Journal

A mid-sized construction distribution firm has acquired a warehouse in Baltimore County with plans to double in size by 2030.

Baltimore Windustrial recently paid $19.75 million for the nearly 117,000-square-foot facility on Carroll Island Road near Bowleys Quarters Road. The deal will move the bulk of the 25-year-old firm from its current digs near White Marsh and expand its multi-state distribution system of supplies like pipe, fittings, valves and structural steel into additional markets.

“We have been busting at the seams for a couple of years now and have been on the hunt for new space,” Baltimore Windustrial’s owner and president, Michael Brown, said on Thursday. “We’re going to be able to fill it all.”

Windustrial plans to move into the new building this spring. The company has a workforce of 55 people and supplies construction materials to developers of data centers, casinos, health care and life sciences facilities and semiconductor facilities, including two data centers under development in Frederick County.

“We will become more efficient, effective and be able to stock more merchandise,” Brown said of the upcoming move. “We deliver daily to South Philly, West Virginia, across the Bay Bridge and points south to Charlottesville, Virginia, with 14 trucks on the road. Our goal is to grow that footprint and to double the company’s size by 2030. I think it’s very possible.”

Brown’s company has been headquartered for years in 44,000 square feet at 7501 Lake Drive in nearby in Rosedale. A portion of the company will remain at that facility and spin off into an independent business focused on fire distribution and fabrication, Brown said.

The firm first opened in 2001 in an 8,000-square-foot office and stockroom on Annapolis Road, and has expanded ever since. Brown discovered the warehouse in Eastern Baltimore County’s industrial corridor through a team from Baltimore commercial real estate firm Gold & Co. LLC, which also helped broker the deal.

Gold & Co.’s Will McCullough said the facility was built on spec last year by national industrial developer Scannell Properties, which was the seller. An entity of the firm, Scannell Properties #602 LLC, acquired the site in 2022 for $2.8 million, according to state records, and the nearly 10-acre parcel was redeveloped with the logistics facility flanked by a large flat-surface parking lot.

By Melody Simmons – Senior Reporter, Baltimore Business Journal

A large local plumbing firm is selling its Baltimore City headquarters and moving to new digs.

Owners of Len the Plumber Heating & Air LLC last week listed the firm’s 24,000-square-foot office and warehouse at 1552 Ridgely St. near M&T Bank Stadium. The firm for years has worked from renovated offices and warehouse space, and officials say they now need more room.

The company doesn’t plan to move far, but representatives for Len the Plumber declined to share the new location. Details like the size of the new office and a timeline for the move were also being held close to the vest, a top company official said through a spokesperson last week.

“As our company grows and creates new jobs, we have outgrown our current space in Baltimore City,” Len the Plumber CEO Jeff Cooper said in a statement. “Our new location, just six miles away, provides the expanded warehouse, office and operational capacity needed to support continued growth. With improved access to major highways, we can enhance efficiency and serve our customers even faster, reinforcing our commitment to top-quality service.”

The residential plumbing, electric and HVAC business serves Greater Baltimore and portions of Washington, D.C. In 2021, the company acquired two smaller firms in Hagerstown and Lancaster, Pennsylvania to further its reach.

Len the Plumber was founded about 30 years ago and has been acquired by private equity firms twice in the last five years. The company was initially purchased in early 2020 by St. Louis-based Thompson Street Capital Partners. Then in 2022, its parent company, LTP Home Services Group, was acquired by Greenwich, Connecticut-based L Catterton. LTP Home Services Group later rebranded as Master Trades Group and today is based in Columbia.

Len the Plumber’s current headquarters sits near the city’s emerging entertainment district surrounding the stadium complex. The area, dubbed the “Walk @ Warner Street,” has been targeted for growth, with a Topgolf and the Horseshoe Casino acting as anchors. Plans for a music venue in the area, to be called Paramount Baltimore, have stalled.

The current owner of the headquarters is LHB Benson LLC, which acquired the property in 2012 for $375,000, state records show. The property dates back to 1940, said Jim Chivers, senior vice president at Gold and Co. and the broker for the sale.

“The warehouse has been fully renovated and transformed into professional office space for an executive team and staff,” Chivers said. “Conveniently situated just off Russell Street near M&T Bank Stadium, the building benefits from the flexible industrial zoning.”

Gold and Company assisted in the sale of the Cherry Hill Rd. site to National Construction

February 10, 2025

1400 Cherry Hill Rd., an industrial property in South Baltimore, recently sold to National Construction for $3.525 million. The 2.3-acre site has approximately 10,000 sq. ft. of maintenance space and offices.

National Construction will use the facility for parking and equipment storage, as well as for general warehouse and office use. The site, which was originally built for Dillon’s Bus Service around the 1970s, is paved and fenced in. Previous uses include transportation, bus companies, and contractors occupying the site.