Baltimore Grows

Baltimore’s Urban Design and Architectural Review Board has approved the plans for Baltimore’s City Center project, a mixed use project that will include and Summerfield Suites, Hyatt Place, and a residential component. 

Demolition will begin this summer with construction to begin next spring.  The project will be complete by Fall of 2011.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/real-estate/bal-city-center-0618,0,1421366.story

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

As someone who lives a block away from the future McHenry Row development, I have a natural interest in the project’s progress.  Here’s a synopsis of what’s happened at the construction site since last October: NOTHING.  Or at least not much more than nothing.  I snapped the photos here back in October of 2008 – almost 9 months ago.  If you drive by today, you’ll see not much has changed.  Developer Mark Sapperstein ran out of financing back in the fall (BBJ article), and apparently is still working on the new funding.

I say the project’s a tease because the amount of buzz and excitement it has stirred up with area residents.  Federal Hill and Locust Point desperately need a decent grocery store.  Unless you have a special taste for moldy produce, the Shoppers at Southside Shopping Center comes no where close to “decent.”  McHenry row promises to bring relief in the form of a sparkling new Harris Teeter.

Additionally, many of us are excited about other tenant names being thrown around like Panera, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and Greene Turtle.  The latter two are both shown on the McHenry Row Website, so there’s likely already a deal in place with those two.  But given the delays, those deals could fall through perhaps.  Green Turtle is particularly exciting.  Having a nice restaurant/bar with outdoor seating and parking in South Baltimore will be a unique luxury.

We’re happy to have a guest post today courtesy of Urban Discoveries Living Blog. Check out all their great content.

Miller’s Court, a new development in South Charles Village/Old Goucher, is set to bring some significant change to the neighborhood’s landscape. When I first moved to the area, the huge red-brick warehouse was basically a block-sized nothing, opposite an overgrown vacant lot. It was a street I avoided when I walked home late at night, so I have to admit that the idea of this huge building becoming a center of community life is both surprising — and thrilling.

Even more, it’s a project that deserves a closer look because it’s another example of an idea that seems to be gaining traction in Baltimore — development companies partnering with non-profits to rehab a prominent, dilapidated building in a struggling neighborhood, with the long-term goal of community revitalization. Intriguing, right? So let’s take that closer look…

Firstly, I should say that there’s a lot about this development that excites me. For one, I’m always happy to see one of Baltimore’s beautiful old buildings coming back to life (I wish someone would attempt the Ashley Apartments on North Avenue next), and this one is no exception. The 80,000 square foot former warehouse was built in 1890, and has been empty since the manufacturing company it once housed shut down in 1953. Half a century of vacancy will take its toll on any structure, and the original details that had probably given the place its turn-of-the-century industrial charm (decorative ironwork, beautiful red brick) were starting to look shabby. There’s also an interior courtyard that had fallen into disrepair.

Like the American Brewery Building, Miller’s Court will house non-profit offices — 35,000 square feet of them, to be exact. While the American Brewery Building is a one-company endeavor, Miller’s Court will contain a collection of them. A few who’ve already signed on include the Baltimore Urban Debate League, Teach for America, Catholic Charities, Sports for Kids, Wide Angle Youth Media, Experience Corps and Building Educated Leaders for Life.

Another significant difference is that Miller’s Court will also feature 45,000 square feet of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments (40 units total), geared toward new Baltimore City teachers. Although there’s no rule against non-teachers living in the building, nearly all of the units have already been snapped up by educators, many of whom will be new-to-Baltimore Teach for America recruits.

The building plans include a 5,000 square foot interior courtyard (with fire pit!), several surface-level parking lots, and a fitness center; they’re hoping to attain a LEED Gold or Silver certification for using green technology. Developer Seawall Development Corporation, a family venture by Donald Manekin and son Thibauilt, was helped by the New Markets Tax Credit, a federal Treasury program that gives incentive to investors in the form of tax credits.

When I drove by the other day it looked like they were hard at work fixing up the surrounding sidewalks — the July 1 move-in day is fast approaching. Still, there have been remarkably few hiccups for a project this size…. although the website promises an on-site coffee shop, the developer hasn’t settled on one yet, so those who move in on July 1 will have to walk a couple blocks for their morning latte. I suggest the Wyman Park Restaurant, 138 W. North Avenue.

A report in the Baltimore Sun today noted that a recent study by Apartments.com and CBcampus.com ranks Baltimore as the 3rd best city for recent college graduates.  The rankings were based on highest concentration of young adults, concentration of jobs requiring less than one year of experience, and average rent of a one bedroom apartment.  The top five cities are as follows:

1. Indianapolis

2. Philadelphia

3. Baltimore

4. Cincinnati

5. Cleveland

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

We’re happy to have another guest post today courtesy of Urban Discoveries Living Blog. Check out all their great content.

The State Center was supposed to be one of those far-sighted projects that would help transform Baltimore into the vibrant, accessible city of the future. Though it wasn’t scheduled to be completed until 2018, even just the vision had a lot of people excited. The idea:  to redevelop and reshape the 28 acres around the current State Center, an area that currently includes huge city offices, a light rail stop, and… a lot of parking lots and chain-link fences. The State Center development was supposed to change all that, reconnecting neighborhoods and creating a vibrant livable community. But problems have cropped up—new legislation, worrisome language in the state budget—that have some people worried that Baltimore is just going to end up with more of the same.

Why spend so much time and money on the area anyway?  Well, there are plenty of assets not being taken advantage of here, is the thinking—not only does the area already boast a much-used transit hub (both the light rail and the subway stop here), and it’s here that vibrant neighborhoods (Mt. Vernon, Seton Hill, Bolton Hill) would come together, if there was anything there worth coming together for. So the stuff is there, for the most part; it’s just not connected well at all. Continue Reading »

Finally, a new rendering for the Gateway at Washington Hill Project.  The new proposal looks like it’s a bit scaled back compared to some older plans, and includes apartments now instead of condos.  However, the retail component is still there, including plans for a grocery store.  This building would be part of a larger development of the empty lots of land south of the new Hopkins Hospital Towers.  The lots are bounded by Wolfe St, Washington St., Orleans St., and Baltimore St. Construction could begin as early as the spring…assuming this one doesn’t fall victim to the economy.

Gateway at Washington Hill

The building reminds me of the Domain Apartment building in Brewers Hill, which incidentally is nearing completion.  It looks really nice!  http://www.domainbh.com/

Domain:

The Baltimore Sun reported today that the privately funded Fitzgerald project, adjacent to the University of Baltimore campus in Midtown Baltimore, has secured financing and will begin construction soon.  The most remarkable part of this story is the fact that the developers (Bozzuto Group) were able to acquire the appropriate financing despite the current credit crisis.  This may be a signal that not all new projects will come to a complete halt due to economic conditions as some alarmists have suggested.

The $75 million dollar Fitzgerald will have 280 luxury apartments, street level retail, and a parking garage.

Click here to read the article

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

The sales prices of condominiums and coops appear to be holding up better in Baltimore than many might think based on our recent analysis of thousands of transactions entered into the multiple listing service. We exported and analyzed every condo and coop transaction from 2000 through July of 2008 from MRIS (Metropolitan Regional Information System), which is the multiple listing service used by Baltimore area real estate agents. The jurisdictions included in the data analysis were Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Harford.

While everyone knows prices are not increasing like they were in the first half of the decade, sales prices for existing condominiums in and around Baltimore are not declining much on average.? The average sales price for condos in Baltimore City was $278,482 in July of this year, which is basically unchanged from $278,417 in July of 2007.? The prices used for this analysis are net of any seller subsidy (closing cost contribution, etc.). While the average sales prices can be somewhat erratic from month to month, the general trend is pretty flat.? Even the metro area including the counties mentioned above has only shown a decline of 4.3% year-to-date through July compared to all of 2007 and this is mostly attributed to declines in Howard and Anne Arundel counties.? And, this is after a 4.4% increase of the average metro area price in 2007.

View the full article including graphs and tables HERE

Yesterday’s article in the Baltimore Sun on the proposed Westport development was interesting.? It was a good article about the city’s push to include moderate & low income housing in the new project.? What I found funny was the accompanying artist rendering of the project? which features a Porsche, BMW (I think), Starbucks, Westport Bistro, and Whole Foods.? Perhaps the low-income residences are tucked just out of view around the corner.

Many Locust Point residents are up in arms over Struever Brothers? proposal to build a major new mixed use project? at the? Tide Point location.? Roughly 250 concerned residents showed up at last Wednesday’s special neighborhood meeting. Struever’s plan would have added up to 1,200 residential? units to Locust Point.? This would be in addition to the two large residential projects currently under way in the community – Silo Point and McHenry Row.? Based on the community outcry the plan has already been reduced in scale and is likely going back to the drawing board once again.

“..Struever Bros. has already agreed to significant reductions in the scope of its plans. Among them, the number of residential units was reduced from about 1,000 to 644 units, a 26-story building was scaled down to 15 stories and the amount of office space was reduced from about 300,000 square feet to about 200,000 square feet. ”

City Council Vice President Edward Reisinger, who represents South Baltimore, said he will not endorse the project as it stands now. “If you don’t want this to go through, it’s not going anywhere, it’ll die,” said Reisinger, chair of City Council’s land use committee. “I’m listening to you, and that is what’s going to happen.”

Recent Coverage from Baltimore Business Journal 3/6/08 and Baltimore Sun 2/29/08