St. John Inks Lease at Maryland Mixed-Use Campus

St. John Properties has signed a 23,574-square-foot lease at Lexington Exchange, its 140-acre mixed-use business campus in California, Md. The tenant is Information Technology services and consulting company FGS LLC, with moving-in scheduled for this spring. St. John represented itself, while Hooper & Associates negotiated on behalf of the tenant.

FGS, which will maintain its corporate headquarters in La Plata, Md., will move to 23566 Oak View Drive, a 28,560-square-foot flex/R&D building that features 18-foot clear heights, dock loading capabilities and drive-in doors.

Lexington Exchange is a mixed-use development that will include more than 700,000 square feet of Class A office, flex/R&D, warehouse and retail space, as well as pad site opportunities. St. John Properties is developing the project with partner Chaney Enterprises. Current tenants include ALDI, RC Theatres and Chipotle.

A 140-acre business campus

The business campus currently has five completed buildings totaling 118,000 square feet of flex/R&D and 68,618 square feet of retail space. Development plans include 15 additional buildings that will total 615,240 square feet of space. Earlier in February, the developer secured a $13.1 million refinancing from United Bank, according to St. Mary’s County public records.

The partnership is currently marketing several pad sites at the business campus, that can support businesses such as restaurants, convenience stores, financial institutions or urgent care facilities.

Fronting Maryland Route 235, Lexington Exchange is near Wildewood Center and allows easy access to Maryland Route 4 and to Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

Hooper & Associates Owner & Manager of Sales and Development Anne Hooper negotiated on behalf of the tenant. FGS serves customer in the greater Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas and, as it continues to win government contracts, the company was in immediate need of a new space with expansion capacities, said Hooper in prepared remarks. St. John Properties’ team of Leasing Representative Michael White and Senior Vice President Matt Lenihan are in charge of marketing the flex/R&D properties for lease, while Vice President of Retail Leasing Bill Holzman is leading retail leasing efforts.

Leasing deals and upcoming projects

Other recent leases across St. John Properties’ portfolio includes Window Nation’s 50,698-square-foot deal at Maple Lawn, a 605-acre mixed-use campus in Baltimore. Greenbaum Enterprises is behind the mixed-use development, that will include 1 million square feet of office space, 150,780 square feet of retail space and 210,100 square feet of flex/R&D space.

In late 2023, the company purchased an 82-acre site in Waldorf, Md., where it plans to develop Berry Pointe, a 635,000-square-foot mixed-use project with office, retail and flex/R&D space. Phase I is scheduled to be completed in early 2025.