Square Feet

Merritt Properties announced that four companies recently became tenants at bwtech@UMBC, adjacent to the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Communications Scientific International, an aerospace technology and services company that provides communications and information systems for satellite, airborne and ground applications to the Department of Defense signed a lease for 2,804 square feet of office space at 5523 Research Park Drive. Tech Edge USA, an IT solutions company, signed a lease for 2,825 square feet of office space at 5523 Research Park Drive.

* Kunkel Piano & Organ Co. is moving its White Marsh Mall store to the Perry Hall Crossing shopping center, where it leased 4,000 square feet of space.* Summit Properties, the developer of the Waterloo Place apartment complex in Mount Vernon, has moved its mid-Atlantic offices from Key Highway to Brown's Wharf at 1629 Thames St.* Better Engineering MFG Inc.,a manufacturer of degreasing machinery, has purchased a 30,000-square-foot building at 8661 Town Center Court in White Marsh Town Center.

BankAnnapolis shares the wealth with local charities BankAnnapolis may be moving in style, but it hasn't forgotten about those of lesser means. Last week, when the bank moved its corporate headquarters to 1000 Bestgate Road, it donated old furniture - worth about $40,000 - to local charities. Hospice of the Chesapeake in Millersville is receiving nearly $24,000 worth of items, including office cubicles, conference tables, executive desks, bookcases, sofas and chairs from the bank's reception area.

BTR Realty, Inc. has leased 3,105 square feet and 7,565 square feet in its Gateway International II complex in Linthicum to Hitachi Data Systems and Mellon Bank.With the new tenants, Gateway II, will be40 percent leased. Gateway II is part of a 36-acre complex which includes a Guest Quarters suite hotel and Gateway International I, a 100,000-square-foot, four-story office building.BTR Realty Inc. is a publicly held real estate development company. Information: 684-2000.

GEORGETOWN, Del. - Sussex County officials have approved a drastically smaller version of a disputed community that opponents feared would overwhelm crowded roads in Delaware beach towns and threaten fragile inland bays just north of Ocean City. The project, proposed for an 885-acre site just west of Fenwick Island, was to include 2,900 homes and more than 200,000 square feet of commercial space. In a 4-1 to one vote yesterday, the County Council approved 1,700 units and limited commercial development to 170,000 square feet.

The Jackson Organization Location: Montpelier Research Park, just off the intersection of U.S 29 and Johns Hopkins Road in Laurel. Developer: Manekin, LLC Landlord: MOR Montpelier III, a joint venture between Manekin and Corporate Office Properties Trust. Description: Build-to-suit for the Jackson Organization, a survey research consulting firm. It will be a one-story brick building with 19,170 square feet. Among its features will be three conference rooms, a training room and larger work and storage areas.

Chase Bank of Maryland has leased 21,548 square feet of space at 1101 McCormick Road in Hunt Valley.The bank's mortgage processing center, which is located in Timonium, will move into the space in early April. Roy Duryea, facilities manager for Chase Bank, said the move will allow the bank to consolidate a number of departments.Currently 80 percent of the 60,000 square feet of space at 11011 McCormick Road is leased. The building is located in the Hunt Valley Business Community, a 435-acre office and research and development park.

Gilligan Homes has a furnished model open and homes available at Franklin Mews at Cherry Croft, a Reisterstown townhouse community in Baltimore County. Gilligan offers three floor plans, ranging from 1,280 square feet to 1,520 square feet, with base prices from $141,990 to $154,990. Standard features include a one-car garage, 9-foot first-floor ceilings, wall-to-wall carpeting and a kitchen appliance package. The homes are on public water and sewer systems and come with gas heat and hot water.

Hechinger Co., the Landover-based home improvement retailer, said yesterday that it would close seven of its traditional Hechinger stores as part of an ongoing "repositioning."Four of the stores are in the Carolinas, where the company has based its new Home Quarters Warehouse chain: Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C. (two stores); and Durham, N.C.Two other stores, in Harrisonburg, Va., and on Georgia Avenue in Washington, "just don't fit in," said Lennie Zallar, vice president and treasurer.