Manekin

The Manekin Corp., responding to industry consolidation, has begun exploratory talks to merge the Baltimore-based development and brokerage company, officials said yesterday.Manekin, which in nearly five decades has evolved into one of the area's most prolific development and brokerage operations, owning or managing 7.3 million square feet of commercial space, is discussing either a merger or alliance with a number of regional competitors, including the Carey Winston Co.Chevy Chase-based Carey Winston has been attempting to expand its presence in the Baltimore market for the past year, ever since a property management partnership with Baltimore competitor Casey & Associates Inc. unraveled.

RKS Realty Inc. recently added Richard "Dicky" Darrell and Joe Moran to the firm's team of expert Realtors, offering commercial and retail real estate services in Harford and Baltimore Counties. "The addition of Richard and Joe to the firm allows for RKS to ensure our clients in Baltimore County, as well as Harford County, are met with the full breadth of our capabilities and expertise," RKS owner Donnell "Beetle" Smith said in a news release. Darrell joins RKS Realty as a real estate broker with 40 years of commercial and retail real estate experience with an emphasis on national retail.

Manekin Corp., one of Baltimore's largest developers, has agreed to assume management of nearly 1 million square feet of commercial real estate in Montgomery County and Northern Virginia that California-based Lee Sammis Associates previously controlled.The agreement, which takes effect July 1, will give Manekin a much larger presence in the Baltimore-Washington region, especially Northern Virginia. It is also part of a trend in which developers are diversifying during the economic downturn by managing assets for others as well as developing properties for themselves.

Manekin LLC, a Columbia-based real estate firm, has formed a partnership with Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group to acquire, develop and manage industrial properties in the Mid-Atlantic region. Manekin, a commercial real estate company with expertise in the Mid-Atlantic, will find and evaluate potential deals, while Brennan will provide capital, the companies said Tuesday. The alliance allows Manekin to work with a nationally focused company with access to capital at a time when a "wealth of opportunities" exists in the mid-Atlantic region, said Owen Rouse, Manekin senior vice president.

Casey & Associates Inc. yesterday named longtime Baltimore real estate executive Robert A. Manekin as its president, a move designed to strengthen the commercial real estate firm's management ranks and competitive position.The appointment of the former Manekin Corp. senior vice president and Julien J. Studley Inc. senior managing director coincides with efforts by several local firms to better compete at a time when large institutions such as pension funds own increasing amounts of real estate.

Harold Manekin, who embraced the rebuilding of downtown Baltimore 50 years ago through an influential commercial real estate business he founded with his brother, died of lung disease Monday at his Brooklandville home. He was 90. "With his brother Bernie alongside, Harold helped change the world's perception of Baltimore," former Rouse Co. Chairman Mathias DeVito said yesterday. "He ran his company efficiently and quietly, and the two brothers could not have made a better team." The Manekins, through the corporation they founded, were involved in leasing, managing or planning four major downtown office towers in the 1960s and 1970s - and later saw the business potential of Howard and Anne Arundel counties, where they invested heavily in office parks.

Manekin Corp. said yesterday that Richard Manekin, a company founder's son who left the commercial real estate brokerage and development company in 1989, will return in two weeks to work on building the firm's tenant representation practice and help develop nontraditional business opportunities.Mr. Manekin will report to Andrew J.A. Chriss and work out of Manekin's downtown Baltimore office, the company said. Manekin, one of the area's largest brokers and the developer of projects including the Bank of Baltimore building, also has offices in Columbia, Baltimore County, Montgomery County and Northern Virginia.

Three area real estate veterans who came together three years ago to form a company with their well-known names - Manekin and Abeshouse - are splitting up next week, they confirmed yesterday. Manekin Brothers Abeshouse will become two separate companies to focus on the regions in which the three principals have developed niches. They say the divorce is amicable, and they plan to continue sharing business. On Tuesday, Robert and Richard Manekin's company will become Manekin Realty Advisors and will focus on providing real estate services in Baltimore.

State Farm Insurance Cos. has taken control of three Columbia office buildings owned by the Manekin Corp., the third time since 1992 that the life insurance giant has seized assets belonging to the Baltimore development firm for not maintaining mortgage payments.State Farm's action regarding the four-story General Physics Building and two adjacent two-story office buildings, however, represents an aberration in an otherwise healthy office market, analysts said."We got an 'A' for effort in that the buildings are almost fully occupied, but a 'D' because the market couldn't support the necessary rents," said Donald Manekin, a Manekin senior vice president.

Manekin Corp. officially unveiled plans yesterday for a $32 million industrial project, describing it as a "field of dreams" that will attract high-paying jobs and continue business growth in Howard County."

ManTech International Corp., a provider of innovative technologies for the intelligence community, will be the first tenant of a new mid-rise building under construction at the Water's Edge Corporate Campus on the former Bata Shoe Factory property in Harford County. ManTech has signed a 10-year, 63,000-square-foot lease to be the first tenant in a five-story, 125,000-square-foot office building that will open in March 2011 at 4696 Millennium Drive. ManTech's building is the fourth and final mid-rise building at the $75 million Water's Edge campus that Manekin is developing with Alex Brown Realty at the intersection of Routes 40 and 543 in Belcamp.

Gregory E. Masi, a senior real estate adviser with Manekin LLC, died Tuesday of complications from lung cancer, Manekin announced Thursday. He was 57. Mr. Masi had worked in commercial real estate for more than 26 years, specializing in leasing, property acquisition, disposition and advisory services. "This is a very sad time for all of us at Manekin LLC," said Robert A. Manekin, senior vice president for brokerage. "Greg was the consummate professional, whose skills, character and integrity were recognized throughout the region's commercial real estate industry."

City and state officials on Monday praised a development team who renovated a former tin factory into affordable housing aimed at teachers and inexpensive office space for nonprofits. "It is an extraordinary building that will house extraordinary individuals," said Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, a former teacher, during a dedication ceremony for Miller's Court. The 77,000-square-foot brick building was constructed in 1874 but had become a hangout for drug dealers and squatters. The project qualified for funds dedicated to developing former industrial sites, known as brownfields.

Bernard Manekin, whose commercial real estate firm that he owned and operated with his brother for more than 50 years succeeded in transforming Baltimore's skyline and self-image, died Saturday in his sleep at his home in the St. James condominiums on North Charles Street. The longtime Northwest Baltimore resident was 95. "He was one of the original visionaries who made our Charles Center and ultimately the Inner Harbor a success. If he hadn't been able to lease One Charles Center in a poor economic climate, the whole project might have died right there," said Martin L. Millspaugh Jr., who was the first chief executive of Charles Center-Inner Harbor Management Inc., which oversaw the development in the 1960s of the harbor and what became Charles Center.

Constellation unit to be reviewed over complaint HARTFORD, Conn. - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has agreed to hear Connecticut's complaint that two energy companies received more than $50 million for electricity that was never delivered, the state said Tuesday. State officials, including Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, said that Canada based-Brookfield Energy Marketing Inc. and Constellation Energy Commodities Group of Baltimore collected payments for electricity that it never delivered.

One member of the development team served as the volunteer owner's rep for a $30 million expansion of Baltimore's School for the Arts. Two others recently turned the dilapidated Census Building on Howard Street into Miller's Court, a $20 million center with affordable housing for teachers and offices for local nonprofits. Now they've joined forces in an effort to save one of the most prominent landmarks in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, the historic but dormant Parkway Theatre at 3-5 W. North Ave. Samuel Polakoff, managing director of Cormony Development and a member of the Board of Overseers at the School for the Arts, and Donald and Thibault Manekin of Seawall Development Corp.

The head of Manekin Corp.'s brokerage division intends to leave the commercial real estate firm later this month to join Rouse Co., part of a continuing reorganization by the Columbia-based developer.At Rouse, Andrew J. A. Chriss will become one of four national leasing managers, with a staff of 10 or 12 who will be responsible for corporate retail accounts such as Nordstrom Inc. or Gap Inc.Over the past nine months, Rouse has been consolidating administrative operations, shifting away from using property-based representatives to attract tenants to its 75 malls and festival marketplaces.

The Howard Chamber of Commerce named a commercial real estate executive and the county's general hospital yesterday as its Business Person of the Year and Business of the Year.The nominees were selected for recognition because of their involvement in and financial support of a range of civic and community activities and groups.Donald Manekin, a senior vice president and partner with Manekin Corp., a Baltimore-based commercial real estate firm with offices in Columbia, was named Business Person of the Year.

2 The first tenants are moving into Miller's Court, a $20 million conversion of a North Baltimore factory building designed to house young teachers and non-profit organizations. "There are so many things about this project that give us a smile each day," said Donald Manekin, who worked alongside his son, Thibault, and his Seawall Development Corp. to develop the project. Manekin said that much of the building will house agencies such as Teach for America, Catholic Charities' foster care and adoption division, the Baltimore Urban Debate League, Wide Angle Youth Media, Building Educated Leaders for Life and the Experience Corps.

Advertising * H&D Branding announced the appointments of Kristin Huber as an account coordinator, Janet Murray as a production artist, Vetry Ramachandran as vice president and creative director and Bryan Pope as print production manager at the Sparks-based marketing agency. Finance * Butler Capital Corp. appointed Joseph Wills as a senior accountant for the Hunt Valley firm. He is responsible for daily and month-end reporting and tax preparation. Real estate * Manekin LLC announced that Andrew Genova joined the Columbia-based commercial real estate and residential land development firm as a sales and leasing associate.