Baltimore Business Journal
APRIL 26, 2018
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An group of investors recently bought the Cornerstone Financial building in Mount Vernon’s Charles Street corridor for $1.15 million.
BalVan Pinnacle Holdings LLC closed on the acquisition from Charles Street Ventures on April 2, according to state property records.
The 13,015-square-foot, five-story building at 1 E. Franklin St. is located in the heart of Mount Vernon, just a couple of blocks away from the Washington Monument, the Walters Art Museum and the George Peabody Library. The buildings current tenants are Cornerstone Financial LLP and Advanced Correction Chiropractic & Physical Therapy.
Cornerstone Advisory was previously a tenant in the space but moved to new offices in Hunt Valley last year. Thomas N. Biddison III, a partner at Cornerstone Advisory who was part of the group that sold the building, said the boutique firm vacated its space in February 2017.
Henry Wong, the founder of An Die Musik, a jazz and classical music concert venue a few doors down from the Cornerstone building, headed up BalVan Pinnacle. Vertex Investments LLC and the Chen Partnership, Canadian businesses owned by Patrick Chen, were also part of the group.
Wong said he has always had his eye on the “stately building” because of its historic architecture. There are no plans to change the building, and the vacant spaces will continue to be marketed as office space.
“I’m just a Baltimore resident that wanted to keep the building owned locally,” said Wong, who lives in Mount Vernon.
Cornerstone Financial, a separate entity from Cornerstone Advisory, has its offices on the third and fourth floors of the building, and the chiropractor has space on the first floor. A basement level and Cornerstone Advisory’s former space on the second floor are vacant.
The Cornerstone building received “lots of interest” from prospective buyers, said Brad Byrnes, a principal at Byrnes & Associates who represented the sellers in the sale.
“We continue to see lots of investors coming from D.C., Philadelphia and New York who are seeing reurbanization trends play out in their cities and believe you will see that play out here too,” Byrnes said.
Mount Vernon is particularly receiving a lot of interest. Byrnes noted the recent opening of Hotel Revival, the reopening of Preston Gardens and plans for a major redevelopment of the Eddie’s grocery store as examples of projects that are creating excitement in the historic neighborhood.