As part of the deal, the JV assumed a total of $23.5 million in existing debt on the buildings. The portfolio includes: the Equitable Building at 10 N. Calvert St., the Keyser Building at 207 E. Redwood, the Maryland Trust Building at 16 Calvert St., the facility at 301 N. Charles St., the Title Building at 102-110 St. Paul St., Brown's Arcade at 322-328 N. Charles St., the Katz Building at 111 N. Charles St. and Cathedral Place at 300 Cathedral St..

Naing--who also heads up real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis' Washington, DC Private Client Group--believes the joint venture's purchase is timely in that the tide is about to change; investors who have had their eyes glued to Washington, DC, he says, will soon turn their attention to Baltimore.

"Baltimore is an undiscovered secret, and that's what made this deal so attractive," Naing tells GlobeSt.com. "Baltimore has something Washington, DC doesn't have--affordability. Baltimore is always one-third less than DC." With regard to class A office properties that figure edges closer to one half; according to Delta Associates' Third Quarter 2004 Report for the Washington/Baltimore office market, the asking rate in the District is $42.20, while the rate in Baltimore is $24.80.