For years, the 125-year-old factory building on Southwestern Boulevard, where Mrs. Filbert’s margarine was once produced, has offered its “good manufacturing space with nine loading docks” for $6 a square foot.

Fortunately for the building’s owner, the Scott administration has agreed to pay nearly double the asking price, committing $9.3 million over the next 12 years to lease 62,100 square feet of industrial space to house the Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit and to store motorcycles, squad cars and its prized BearCat Tactical Armored Vehicle.

The transaction is the latest example of the administration’s penchant for leasing privately owned space, often at a premium price, rather than rehabilitating or repurposing vacant and underutilized city-owned buildings.

Last spring, for example, the city paid out over $16 million – and agreed to pay at least $63 million more in rent and maintenance fees over the next 30 years – to lease a planned office building by developer David Bramble.

The building will be occupied the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, which will vacate two city-owned buildings (the onetime dormitories of Goucher College) on Maryland Avenue. There is no planned use for the 59,800 square feet of space there.

Last October, the Board of Estimates approved a $2.3 million lease for office space owned by Sinai Hospital for victim interviews by BPD’s family crimes, child abuse and missing persons units.

Concurrently, the spending board inked a $8.8 million deal with another developer, Atapco Properties, to study the feasibility of creating a “Baltimore Multi-Agency Command Center” at the former Sunpapers office and parking garage at 401-601 North Calvert Street.

Once again, the plan is for the city to lease, not own, the rebuilt complex, which could cost well over $100 million in public dollars. Three weeks ago, $350,000 was forked over to a consultant, Sterner Strategic Advisors, to improve dispatch capabilities in the building.

Why not place SWAT in the Sunpapers facility, where the city already leases 142,000 square feet from Atapco for $3.4 million a year?

This question was asked by a former top police commander when told about the margarine factory lease in Violetville.

“A new space for SWAT would be great. It’s definitely needed. But to stick it far away from everything and put it under a 12-year lease – that doesn’t pass the sniff test,” he said, asking that his name not be used so he could speak frankly.

“We’re just putting money into other people’s pockets”  – City Hall source.

“I’m really confused,” said another official versed in the city’s real estate portfolio, “because I thought the Sunpapers [Building] was supposed to be able to accommodate all of the police department’s needs.”

“Why are we now spending more money on a different building?” he asked. “We’re just putting money into other people’s pockets.”

He called the $9.3 million price “way too much” for storing cars and sheltering a small police unit especially when, according to City Administrator Faith Leach, BPD’s discretionary spending is “frozen” due to budgetary overruns.

At an April 8 City Council budget hearing, Leach warned that “what we are shouldering” as a result of accelerating government costs “will have a very significant fiscal impact to the City of Baltimore.”

Deteriorating Real Estate

A long-term problem faced by the city is that its own property suffers from deferred maintenance and haphazard repairs.

SWAT offices, for example, were based at the police headquarters building on East Fayette Street that has been plagued with structural weaknesses from an adjoining parking garage.

Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming has exposed dangerous working conditions at solid waste yards and extreme dilapidation at a city health clinic, highlighted by a mummified rat found on repeat visits.

Even City Hall is not immune, its front entrance currently under wraps to repair its leaking French Second Empire marble facade and roof.

The police department and Mayor Scott’s press office did not respond to specific questions about the rationale behind leasing the former margarine factory. Instead, police spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge issued this statement to The Brew:

“The facility will serve as a training location for the Baltimore Police Department, specifically supporting the needs of some of our specialized units. The renovation and relocation costs were included in the lease agreement approved by the BOE. Additional technology expenses are expected and will be covered through grant funding.”

Various Price Points

The comptroller’s office, whose Department of Real Estate (DORE) prepared the lease, confirmed that the base price requested by Apex LLC, the owner of the building, was $6 per square foot, as reported in LoopNet, the online marketplace for commercial property.

The city agreed to a $1.50 sq ft premium to cover the cost of renovating two floors of the building for SWAT training rooms, lockers and vehicle storage.

On top of that, the city will pay $3.00 sq ft for operating, utility and janitorial expenses for the warehouse space and $5.35 sq ft for the same services in the offices, making the total rent for year one either $10.50 sq ft or $12.85 sq ft – the latter more than double the advertised LoopNet price.

Apex LLC, the landlord, promises to paint and remodel the premises with new HVAC, new walls, flooring and two sets of men’s and women’s locker rooms, which it says will “cost approximately $1.5 million.” Otherwise, “the premises are leased to Tenant in ‘as-is’ condition and without any obligation of Landlord to construct improvements or perform any other work in the premises,” says the 36-page lease.

Schematic maps reviewed by The Brew show that the biggest space, over 17,000 square feet, will be used to store police vehicles and motorcycles, including armored vehicles used by SWAT in active shooter events, high-risk search warrants and hostage rescues.

A gun cleaning room, small gymnasium and a simulation room, which uses computers to recreate real-world scenarios for training purposes, will be included in the facilities. The expense of outfitting those facilities is expected to come from government grants, according to Eldridge.

Mrs. Filbert’s Legacy

For a century, the factory was the home of J.H. Filbert Inc., which was started by John H. Filbert, but expanded into a nationally recognized brand under the 30-year reign of his widow, Martha V. Filbert.

In its heyday, it was one of the biggest manufacturing plants in Baltimore, producing salad dressings, mayonnaise and sandwich spreads in addition to margarine.

Not long after inventing I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! in 1979, Filbert was acquired by Unilever.

In 1989, Sandra Filbert Amos, known as the “margarine heiress,” was convicted of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Her assets, including a 350 SL convertible Mercedes, a 1952 MG and waterfront property in Easton, were seized and sold by federal authorities.

Unilever closed the plant in 2015 to move its operations to Kansas, and Apex, a partnership of Stephen W. Shaw and Mukul Mehta, acquired the property for $3.5 million.

Since then, the seven-acre parcel has been used for warehousing and storage and for Mehta’s Mayflower Companies, which supply laundry, linen and uniforms to area hotels.

The space leased by the city is expected to be in move-in condition for about 50 SWAT officers in September.