Vanguard Celebrates 25 Years of Building Retail Real Estate Success

November 6, 2012

A Handshake Partnership and Quality Projects Endure for Co-Developers of Foundry Row

Baltimore-based Vanguard, co-developers of Foundry Row, are celebrating 25 years of developing retail properties in Baltimore and the mid-Atlantic region. In 1987, Brad Glaser and Len Weinberg II made a handshake agreement that set the tone for more than two decades of hard work and a focus on developing quality projects that endure.

As one of the first developers in the urban, Baltimore neighborhood of Canton, Vanguard’s vision for that community helped spark a domino effect of revitalization, attracting iconic tenants such as Nacho Mamas. Today, the company is the co-developer of high-profile projects including the redevelopment of the Solo Cup factory into Foundry Row, slated to be the new gateway for Owings Mills.

“We’ve kept a pretty low profile over the years—that’s just our style,” said Weinberg, co-founder and principal at Vanguard. “Despite the real estate market’s ups and downs over the years, we’ve steadily grown by developing great projects, large and small.”

Vanguard has purposely remained a small, streamlined company, enabling it to move quickly and allowing the partners to maintain a hands-on approach from project start to finish. Over the last 25 years, Vanguard has developed more than 40 retail developments totaling nearly 1,700,000 square feet and $350 Million in value—as well as contributing to the economic viability and creating countless new jobs for communities. Projects have included highly complex ventures requiring the assembly of dozens of properties, to developing attractively located grocery-anchored neighborhood centers and pad sites.

While Vanguard has developed sites in Virginia and Delaware, the bulk of the firm’s work has remained in the founders’ hometown of Baltimore. Local projects have included the revitalization of the Pikesville Giant in Centre Court to create a new focal point for the community and the development of the Arbutus Plaza, German Hill Shopping Center, Golden Ring Plaza and Abingdon Station, to name a few.

“Whether it’s a new ground-up project, acquisition or joint venture, Len and I still enjoy making the deal and developing a project that our tenants and the community can be proud of,” explains Glaser, Vanguard co-founder and principal. “And that’s something we would be happy doing for another 25 years.”

(November 16, 2012)