City-owned office building at 7 E. Redwood St. sold for $8M to affiliate of Byrnes & Associates

The City of Baltimore has reached an agreement to sell the 20-story office building at 7 E. Redwood St. for $8 million to an affiliate of Byrnes & Associates for continued use as office space.

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved a plan to sell the building to Redwood Light 7 LLC, the Byrnes & Associates affiliate.

Opened in 1924 to serve as headquarters for the First National Bank in Baltimore, 7 E. Redwood Street is one of numerous Beaux Arts-style buildings that were constructed downtown following the Great Fire of 1904. Owned by the City of Baltimore since 2013, it’s occupied by a dozen city agencies. The Baltimore Development Corp. (BDC), acting on behalf of Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council, sought bids for the property in 2023 and has been working with Byrnes & Associates to finalize the sale for more than a year.

Under the sale agreement approved by the Board of Estimates, the city will receive $8 million in sale proceeds and enter into a 20-year master lease for the building’s second to 20^th floors, to house city agencies. As part of the lease, the new owners will modernize the 205,039-square-foot building and the city will receive a tenant improvement allowance to enhance and reorganize its office space.

The new owners have proposed to turn the building’s 6,500-square-foot banking hall at ground level into a restaurant. It’s the fourth building that Byrnes & Associates has acquired on Redwood Street, along with 207, 225 and 233 E. Redwood Street.

Located at the southwest corner of Redwood and Light streets, the building also has an address of 14-18 Light St. It’s zoned C-5-TO, a category that accommodates office, retail, hotel, restaurant and residential uses.

Here is the way the sale agreement was outlined in the Board of Estimates’ agenda:

 “The Developer will continue using the building as an historic office building, maintaining the City as a tenant and activating the ground floor for commercial retail uses. Under the Master Lease, the Developer will commit to completing a series of identified building improvements over the first forty-eight (48) months. The Developer will pay $8,000,000 for the Property. Under the Master Lease, the City will combine all existing agency leases in the Property and lease approximately 149,043 square feet of floor area on floors 2 through 20 for a period of twenty (20) years. The rent will start at $18.50 PSF [per square foot] for the first 1.5 years, increasing to $21.50 PSF [per square foot] with a 3% annual increase for the remainder of the lease. The Lease also includes a tenant improvement allowance for the leased premises.”

Proceeds from the sale will be deposited to the city’s Surplus Property Disposal Fund, according to the BDC. The master lease agreement with Redwood Light 7 LLC starts on Jan. 15, 2026 and ends on Jan. 15, 2046. The transaction amount is $74,292,114.99.

The sale agreement is consistent with Scott’s Downtown RISE Strategic Action Plan, which was recently adopted by Baltimore’s Planning Commission. It also adds a large building to the city’s tax rolls while preserving a historic structure.

“Baltimore’s strength is our neighborhoods – including the heart of our city, Downtown,” Scott said in a statement. “When our business district thrives, it moves the entire city forward. The 7 E. Redwood agreement fuels that momentum.”

“Downtown’s revival depends on activating its historic assets and bringing new energy to the business core,” said BDC President and CEO Otis Rolley, in a statement. “The successful disposition of 7 E. Redwood Street is a strong example of how public-private collaboration can advance that goal.”

Brad Byrnes, president of Byrnes & Associates and managing partner of Redwood Light 7 LLC, said the project fits within a long-term vision for revitalizing the Historic Redwood Walk and the Business & Government Historic District.

“Our goal is to create a connected, walkable corridor that links Port Discovery to CFG Bank Arena and the UM BioPark area,” Byrnes said in a statement. “Through this and nearby redevelopments along East Redwood Street, we’re building on progress that has already resulted in over 70 new office leases, four restaurant and retail leases, and 130 new residents in this historic part of the city.”