BALTIMORE, MD—Yesterday we reported that a source told us that KBS Realty Advisors, a Newport, CA-based REIT, is buying Thames Street Wharf here for between $88 million and $90 million. This morning the news became official: the REIT announced the acquisition of the 260,651-square-foot building for $89 million. Thames Street Wharf, LLC, an entity controlled by Michael S. Beatty, president of Beatty Development Group is the seller.

Here are updates to the transaction from our news report yesterday:

• Beatty Development Group will serve as the manager of the 86% occupied building.

• CBRE's Bo Cashman and Jonathan Beard represented the seller in the transaction.

• KBS, like other institutional investors, is becoming more aware of Baltimore as a national market. Said KBS Eastern Region President Marc DeLuca: "… the city is in the forefront for the investment community and has the resources to continue its growth as a valuable center for investment."

Indeed the local real estate community has been aware of this trend for some time. "The acquisition of Thames Street Wharf points to a renewed interest among major real estate players in the Baltimore region as an investment opportunity," Cashman says.