Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. to invest $42 million in mixed-use project

Virginia Beach-based Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. said Thursday it is investing $42 million in The Residences at Annapolis Junction Town Center in Howard County, Md.

The mixed-use, 18-acre development will include 416 apartments; 17,000 square feet of retail space; a 150-room hotel and 100,000 square feet of office space.

“We are thrilled to be investing in yet another high barrier to entry asset that allows us to maintain our traditional wholesale to retail spread while further diversifying into one of our target markets,” Armada Hoffler's CEO, Louis Haddad, said in a statement.

The project is scheduled to break ground in the second quarter of 2016 and be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

Annapolis Junction Town Center is located between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and about two miles from Fort Meade, Maryland's largest employer.

Armada Hoffler said  it has entered into the following agreements with the project's developer:

• Mezzanine financing of $42 million at an annual interest rate of 10% provided by the company, which, when combined with the proceeds from a senior construction loan and the developer’s equity, will complete the developer’s capital stack;
• A $68 million guaranteed maximum price construction contract as general contractor to build The Residences at Annapolis Junction Town Center; and
• A purchase option to acquire an 88% interest in the project at the developer’s cost basis, upon completion of construction.