In this Part 1 of a three-part series, Rocky Mackintosh takes an in-depth examination of Frederick County Government’s real estate planning, acquisition, and construction decisions. An existing office building can look like an attractive opportunity for local government. Purchase it below replacement cost, adapt it to public needs, consolidate services, and save taxpayers money. But...
Commercial leasing activity in Frederick County turned in a strong third quarter of 2026, with 741,391 square feet leased in 38 transactions, according to CoStar data. But, as is often the case with quarterly statistics, the headline number doesn’t tell the whole story. One transaction accounted for more than half of all the space leased...
This is the 31st article of MacRo’s AI Corner, and Part 2 of a MacRo Report series examining technological change, functional obsolescence, and the long-term future of today’s massive data-center buildings. In Part 1, I looked at Frederick County’s long history of adapting its real estate to economic and technological change. The most obvious example...
In this 30th article of our AI Corner, we offer Part 1 of a two-part MacRo Report series examining technological change, functional obsolescence and what today’s data-center development could mean decades from now. If you want to see what happens when a massive Frederick County industrial operation becomes technologically and economically obsolete, you don’t need...
When you open your electric power bill to review last month’s charges and study it, do you really know what you are paying for? It may surprise you! Here’s a quick summary in our 29th article of the MacRo Report Blog’s AI Corner. Last week, I examined the many factors contributing to Maryland’s rising electricity...
Data centers are part of the discussion—but government policy, constrained power supply and years of rising grid costs deserve far more attention. In this 28th post of the MacRo Report Blog’s AI Corner, Rocky Mackintosh takes a deeper look into what we are actually paying for. Maryland residents do not need an economist to tell...
In the 27th article in The MacRo Report Blog’s AI Corner series, we take a detailed and unbiased look at this week’s announcement of a proposed Community Benefits package between Frederick County and the developer of the Quantum Frederick Campus. Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater has announced what may become the most consequential agreement negotiated...
For the past eight months, I have been researching and writing about the growth of data centers in Frederick County. This article marks the 26th installment in the MacRo Report Blog’s AI Corner series examining one of the most significant economic and land use developments our community has faced in decades. Throughout the series, I’ve...
FREDERICK, MD — Mackintosh Realtors has announced that MacRo, Ltd. and its founder, Earl “Rocky” Mackintosh, are joining Mackintosh Commercial, bringing together two Frederick real estate organizations with common family roots and a real estate history spanning more than a century. For brothers Jim and Buzz Mackintosh, the combination represents more than an expansion of...
Our 25th post in the continuing series on the data center industry in Frederick County, Maryland revisits the precious commodity of water. Over the past several months, I’ve written two articles examining one of the most common questions surrounding the Quantum Frederick campus: How much water do data centers really use? Those articles explained how...