The Dolben Co. and Klein Enterprises Begin Leasing at Fells Point

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Baltimore—Marketplace at Fells Point has begun pre-leasing. The 159-unit apartment property, which also includes 28,000 square feet of retail space, is located in Baltimore’s historic Fells Point district, in the southeastern part of the city along the waterfront, just east of the Inner Harbor.

The Dolben Co. and Klein Enterprises, both based in Maryland, formed a joint venture to develop the community. Work started on the property in June, and completion is slated for mid-2014, with occupancy later that year. Marketplace at Fells Point offers studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units.

Amenities include a clubroom, fitness center, game room and private courtyards with an outdoor fireplace. Residents will be able to pay their rent online and submit service requests online via a resident portal. The property will have on-site retail, and is walking distance to public transit.

This is the second apartment project by the JV of Dolben and Klein. Earlier in 2013, the companies began work on the Apartments at Charlestown Crossing in the town of North East, in Cecil County, Md., which is still in the pre-lease phase.

Metro Baltimore was one of the first apartment markets to recover from the recession, with considerable absorption and spikes in occupancies as far back as 2010. Now the market’s stabilized at a fairly strong numbers, according to MPF Research.

During the second quarter of 2013, occupancy stood at 95.6 percent, in line with the metro’s three-year average, but down 0.1 percentage points annually, MPF notes. Rents are still going up—over the past five quarters, year-over-year rent growth has measured between 2 percent and 3 percent—but that’s down from the metro’s post-recession peak growth levels of 5.2 percent about two years earlier.