Booming & Blooming, Empty to Energized – Two New Businesses Hit Frederick Scene.
MacRo Commercial Real Estate offers a wide range of commercial properties and land for sale and lease across the Mid-Maryland region. As you might image, our property listings attract a highly diverse group of investors, individual owners and ambitious entrepreneurs seeking an “in” to the bustling Frederick commercial real estate market.
Just recently, I had the great pleasure of working with two sets of entrepreneurs with unique business ideas, one of which could be a Frederick County first.
Booming & Blooming
About a year ago, I talked with a very grounded business professional searching for a location where his vision could take roots and grow. Although his concept was proven and profitable in other parts of the country, it was, at that time, illegal in Maryland. You see, he wanted a large building in which he could grow medical cannabis.
In that instant, I flashed back a handful of decades to a very different life and time. He quickly extinguished my Cheshire Cat grin. You see, his plan wasn’t your average “pot- trepreneur.” On the contrary, his operation was designed as a highly regulated, very sophisticated and ethically advanced medical cannabis cultivation operation.
Although the state, county, and city were very welcoming of his business model, not all the local landlords lit up at the thought of cannabis on their property.
It just so happened that, within MacRo’s inventory of industrial property listings, a 42,000 square foot warehouse that met a number of his unique requirements was available for lease. While it took a bit of convincing, the property owner eventually became an extremely supportive landlord. And it was in August that Frederick’s first legal “pot- trepreneur” became a member of an elite group of 15 Maryland cultivation licensees throughout the state.
Most any building has the opportunity to have many production lives. In this case, what was once a booming printing operation will now become a blooming complex for medical cannabis. Congratulations Green Leaf Medical, LLC.
Empty to Energized
Frederick’s creative nature attracts a pool of healthy talent eager to deliver a variety of approaches to personal fitness classes, ranging from muscular military workouts to the inner peace of yoga gatherings.
Early this year, I was approached by an entrepreneur looking to introduce a new concept in the field to Frederick. His physical description of the facility was pretty standard: a set of locker rooms, reception/waiting area, a yoga studio and an “Arena.”
What’s with the “Arena?” Our eager prospect described the Arena as a “physical, emotional, and inspirational experience.” An energized trainer guides the spirited group of rapidly peddling cyclists facing a high definition screen while a state-of-the-art audio system pumps out chest- thumping, hard-riding music.
Basically, he needed a large, open space, without neighbors, with great street visibility, and he had to be downtown. It didn’t take long to thin down the number of possible locations to a 3,000 square foot commercial space situated in the East All Saints Street parking garage next to the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center.
The street level space was a ‘cold, dark, shell’ void of everything, even a floor. It is owned by the City of Frederick and had long been vacant but recently listed for lease with MacRo, Ltd. Our “fitness-preneur” headed up a highly motivated team, who transformed a bleak, empty space into an extremely energized Arena. Congratulations Cyclefit Frederick!
Steve Cranford, Vice President, Commercial Sales & Leasing, joined MacRo in 2013. He has 15-year track record of real estate success and 20 years experience as an entrepreneur and key contributor to Fortune 100 organizations. As a licensed Realtor professional, he represents sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants in negotiating a variety of commercial real estate agreements in Frederick and the surrounding counties.