A Quaker worshipping community called the Stony Brook Friends Meeting founded the Broadmead retirement development back in 1979 as a way to meet the needs of older people. They must have known what they were doing because nearly half a century later, the community was still thriving and looking to expand.
The only problem was the Hunt Valley neighborhood around them had grown up, limiting the nonprofit group's expansion options. So they had to get creative.
Inspiration came in the form of a former office campus in nearby Sparks, Maryland, that once served as a headquarters for a now-defunct healthcare company. Broadmead bought the property for $16.5 million out of receivership and then worked with local authorities to rezone it so it could be converted into a satellite retirement development: Broadmead at Ridgebrook.
The transformation earned the project a CoStar Impact Award, as judged by a panel of independent local real estate professionals.
"This is impactful because it will transform a somewhat obsolete office campus into a much-needed state-of-the-art retirement community by overcoming zoning, ownership and market constraints that would have otherwise prevented new development," said Lacey Johansson, vice president of leasing for St. John Properties.
About the project: Applications are being accepted for some 80 units being crafted out of the 60-plus-acre property.
What the judges said: "The out-of-the-box thinking, tenacity and vision on the project win it for this category," wrote Terri Harrington, managing principal for Harrington Commercial Real Estate Services. "This project proves there are creative options for office conversions if you are willing to work at it!" she added.
They made it happen: The seller was represented by brokers who included Trout Daniel & Associates Senior Vice President Timothy Hearn and Transwestern Real Estate Services Executive Vice President Gerry Trainor, Senior Vice President Guy Copperthite and Vice President Donald Foran. Thomas Fidler, executive vice president and principal at MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, represented the buyer.