Hanover, Northwestern Mutual break ground on industrial development in Washington, D.C. metro

Hanover Company and institutional investors advised by Northwestern Mutual Real Estate are pleased to announce the groundbreaking of Frederick Airport Park, a four-building

development, serving the high need for light industrial space within the Washington, D.C. corridor.

Phase 1 consists of the speculative development of buildings 2 and 3, which are part of a Class A 118-acre, 1.7 million-square-foot development located directly off Interstate-70 in Frederick, Maryland, a growing metro spaced equidistant within a 40-mile radius of both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Buildings 2 and 3 are each approximately 250,000 square feet in a front-park rear-load configuration.

The delivered project will be highly amenitized and flexible – suitable for traditional distribution users, light manufacturing, food and beverage, ecommerce, cold storage and biotech. The groundbreaking marks the second asset to commence within a month for Hanover’s growing industrial development portfolio. The Texas-based firm, which has four decades of experience in development, construction, property management and asset management, announced the launch of its industrial platform in 2022.

“With this project, we expand our presence in one of the East Coast’s most supply-constrained regions for new industrial product. We are honored to have Northwestern Mutual alongside us in one of the first deals in our industrial platform,” said Hanover Chief Executive Officer Brandt Bowden. “We are meeting the market where it is – this property being in an area of the world with a strong influx of industrial development and data centers emerging within the last few years. With its impeccable access to the national transportation network, this project will be a hallmark for our firm.”

Frederick Airport Park Phase 1, located at 1620 and 1640 Bowmans Farm Road in the City of Frederick, consists of two light industrial buildings, with a combined 507,900-square-foot footprint. Connectivity benefits include access to Interstates 70, and via 70 to 270, 81 and 95, with good proximity to the Port of Baltimore, as well as households in northern Virginia and suburban Maryland.

“Hanover Company has been a consistent development partner for Northwestern Mutual over the years and we are pleased to expand our relationship with Hanover from apartments to industrial developments with the Bowmans Farm Road site,” said Tom Zale, vice president – Real Estate, Northwestern Mutual.

“The team really persevered and created a fabulous outcome. I have a strong belief in the future success of this location and product design,” said David Hudson, President of Hanover Industrial. “We are thrilled to have Northwestern Mutual as our partner – a long-time Hanover deal partner.”

Hanover selected MGMA as the architect, Harris Smariga as the civil engineer and Conewago as the general contractor on the project.

Construction on Frederick Airport Park’s first building is projected to be complete by Q3 of 2025.

“The DMV continues to be underserved by Class-A industrial buildings largely due to a shortage of developable industrial land in the B-W corridor, suburban Maryland and northern Virginia. In northern Virginia in particular, the scarcity of available land has been exacerbated by continued demand from data center users,” said Dan Gordon, Regional Development Partner, NE Industrial for Hanover. “The combination of those forces has led to increased demand for well-designed light industrial space in the Frederick submarket.”

Cushman & Wakefield will be responsible for marketing the project to potential tenants. Bo Cashman and Jonathan Beard with CBRE assisted Hanover in marketing the project to potential capital partners.