Barclays Lends $40M for Maryland Retail Center Buy

There are signs of tailwinds for the retail sector in suburban Baltimore.

Barclays has supplied a $40.25 million acquisition loan for the $57.5 million purchase of 

Normandy Shopping Center and Normandy Business Center, a newly renovated, grocery-anchored retail property in Ellicott City, Md., Commercial Observer can first report.

The 185,000-square-foot shopping center was acquired by Normandy National Pike, an entity connected to the Singh family. The three-building property, which was one of the first grocery-anchored shopping centers in Howard County, had been owned by the Moxley family since 1961, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

Arrow Real Estate Advisors arranged the transaction with a team consisting of Morris Betesh, Brandon Serota, Alex Bailkin and Matt O’Hanlon. 

“Well-located, redeveloped retail assets with durable cash flow continue to attract strong lender interest,” Betesh, founder and managing partner at Arrow Real Estate Advisors, said in a statement. “Normandy’s long operating history, high visibility and embedded development upside made this an attractive acquisition opportunity for both the sponsor and the lending community.”

Located at 8450 Baltimore National Pike 11 miles west of Downtown Baltimore, the 2021-renovated Normandy Shopping Center and Normandy Business Center is 98 percent leased to a variety of retail and office tenants. Anchor retail tenants include Triveni Supermarket, Planet Fitness and High’s Dairy Store. The property also includes 5.9 acres of undeveloped land.

MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services arranged the sale with a team led by Owen Rouse and Tom Green.

Rouse said the property’s leasing levels improved following redevelopment efforts after losing Safeway as an anchor tenant.

“We fielded a substantial amount of competitive offers for the property, as historically low retail vacancy levels, the lack of new shopping centers being developed, and rising rental rates has fanned the interest among investors in the retail category,” Rouse said in a statement. “Normandy Shopping Center is now fully-stabilized, the physical plant is in excellent condition, and the new owners have secured an asset that will increase in value over the long-term.”

Barclays and the Singh family did not immediately return requests for comment.

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.