About Us

History

Leroy M. Merritt, Founder & Chairman
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Leroy, the Chairman of Merritt Properties and a graduate of Western Maryland College, founded the company in 1967 after starting in the construction business as a block layer. He is known above all for his integrity, often completing deals with a handshake, and his reputation in both the development and larger Baltimore business community is unsurpassed. Leroy believes in employee growth, development and empowerment. He is the recipient of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) Arnold Palmer Award, given for outstanding contribution to the industry, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award. Leroy is passionate about helping others, with a particular focus on women and children with special needs, and Merritt Properties is consistently recognized as one of the most generous corporate givers in the Baltimore area.

Merritt Properties – History
In the mid-‘60’s, Leroy was working as an independent homebuilder when he was approached by Ed St. John to build rental warehouse projects. As it turns out, Ed’s father had started a company called SinJin Enterprises, which manufactured sump pumps that Leroy bought for his homes. After a bad experience with a builder on an apartment project, Ed asked the manager of SinJin if he knew of any honest builders. The manager sent him to Leroy.

Their first building together was a 16,000-square-foot warehouse on Stafford Street in southwest Baltimore City. The basic lay-out of the warehouse – a 30’ bay with a loading door, a personnel door, and room for an office – was a revolutionary concept at the time. Companies were able to lease a space of one, two or three bays, according to their needs. This concept has continued to serve as the basis for Merritt’s warehouses.

In 1971, after partnering on a number of commercial real estate projects, Leroy and Ed recognized that they each had their own unique philosophies of business and agreed to split the company. As Leroy tells it, “When you have two hungry kids and one piece of cake – you just have one cut it, and let the other choose.” That’s what they did. Ed divided their properties into two packages, and Leroy chose one.

For the next 20 years, Merritt Properties continued to build warehouse projects while diversifying into flex, office, retail and design-build projects.

In the early 1990s, however, recession devastated the commercial real estate industry. With little opportunity for development, the mantra of the industry was, “Stay alive ‘til ’95.” Merritt did just that and emerged from the recession into a period of tremendous growth and change.

After forging a financial partnership with Rothschild Realty in 1997, Merritt was again able to build on their undeveloped land and has now grown to the largest privately held commercial real estate portfolio in the region.

Despite this tremendous growth, however, the company continues to live by the core values on which Leroy built the company: work hard, take care of your customers, share with the people you care about and do what is right.