Howard Hughes Buys 2 Downtown Columbia Buildings: ICYMI

COLUMBIA, MD — The Howard Hughes Corporation has purchased two commercial buildings in downtown Columbia. One is located near Lake Kittamaqundi, while the other is closer to The Mall in Columbia.

The American City Building at 10227 Wincopin Circle is next to the Whole Foods market. Howard Hughes purchased the building for $16.5 million and reportedly plans to demolish it and the nearby parking lot, then develop a project with multi-family housing as well as retail and restaurant spaces.

The building used to house Lakeside Cafe, which closed there in 2013 and reopened in 2014 at Corporate Center, an office building near Little Patuxent at Broken Land parkways. Howard Hughes, which owned Corporate Center, offered the location without disclosing plans for the American City Building.

Also included in the purchase announced Wednesday was One Mall North, at 10025 Governor Warfield Parkway. It is located on the road that makes a ring around The Mall in Columbia.

A four-story office building, the property is 100 percent leased to medical, financial, engineering and technology companies, according to a statement from Howard Hughes, which bought the property for $22.25 million. The site is zoned for various uses, officials said, making it valuable in terms of the future market needs.

“...we have high expectations for the continued growth of Downtown Columbia..." Howard Hughes CEO David R. Weinreb said in a statement. “We continue to generate significant interest from a variety of businesses as we grow the employment opportunities in the heart of Downtown Columbia. Our goal is to find additional companies that will thrive in this highly educated, abundant and expanding labor pool.”

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