To get this thread started off right, here are some recent posts from the last thread. These are renderings of projects that have never been built or are on the drawing boards or are in the works for construction soon:

Hackerman's Conway street proposal:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6montage1_center-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6montage3_center-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6montage2_center-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6oriole_center-thumb.jpg

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6240/014zr.jpg
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Water Tower

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6wlapts-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6waterst-thumb.jpg

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300 East pratt
Last rendering ever released:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6300_e__pratt-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6slcepropelev-thumb.jpg

Old rendering, when it was proposed as a Westin Hotel:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6baltb-thumb.jpg

Yet another old proposal for 300 East Pratt that never happened:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6modelsm-thumb.jpg


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RLJ Convention Hotel proposals:

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/65437774-thumb.jpg


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Old proposed projects that never happened:

The SM Tower:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6aerial_sm-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6elevation_sm-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6street_sm-thumb.jpg

Other towers that never made it:
The proposed Provident tower:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6provident-thumb.jpg

another proposal scrapped:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6murd-thumb.jpg

The older One Light Street proposals:
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6genslerfillat-thumb.jpg

BTW, I love that first One Light Street rendering/design. :) Too bad it never happened.

Here is the link for Baltimore Development III

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=216685

damn, you guys are already on #4? judging from the number of development news threads, i would say baltimore is best-represented on ssc.

Found this pic on the Brewer's Hill site:
http://www.brewershill.net/images/aerialshot.jpg


I didnt realize how intergral the Brewer's Hill/Camden Crossing developments are to creating one cohesive waterfront district. Of course each waterfront neighborhood has its own feel and flair, but I really think that there's no reason people cant be drawn from the Inner Harbor and travel southeast through Harbor East and Fells Point and Canton. They just need some reason to go.

Thank's StevenW for creating the Baltimore Development News IV Thread.

Fanofterps and Waj0527, I walked by the site where the Water Tower condos are supposed to be built. There is a large sign with a picture of the building on one of the facades of the parking lot and better yet, they have a sales office on the ground floor. So that looks encouraging.

Has anyone heard anything about the City Place development. I walked past that too and didn't see any signs of any activity.

The current issue of the BBJ also has an article about Best Buy looking for a site in downtown Baltimore. You guys are really astute because someone on this forum mentioned this several weeks ago and I found it difficult to believe! The article has a photo of the retail section of Lockwood Place, but I don't think that they would locate there because the cost of leasing there would be prohibative unless they get a break from the developer.

damn, you guys are already on #4? judging from the number of development news threads, i would say baltimore is best-represented on ssc.
Actually, it's really the 5th thread. :D
When the threads started changing over after 500 posts, the first time, the thread name stayed the same. AND before the first thread change, the post count was a rediculious #. I think it was at or 7,000 posts!! :eek2:

Thank's StevenW for creating the Baltimore Development News IV Thread.

Fanofterps and Waj0527, I walked by the site where the Water Tower condos are supposed to be built. There is a large sign with a picture of the building on one of the facades of the parking lot and better yet, they have a sales office on the ground floor. So that looks encouraging.

Has anyone heard anything about the City Place development. I walked past that too and didn't see any signs of any activity.

The current issue of the BBJ also has an article about Best Buy looking for a site in downtown Baltimore. You guys are really astute because someone on this forum mentioned this several weeks ago and I found it difficult to believe! The article has a photo of the retail section of Lockwood Place, but I don't think that they would locate there because the cost of leasing there would be prohibative unless they get a break from the developer.

Thanks, Hugh. I generally try to keep up with our post count. When 500 posts happen it's time to start over. :D

About "CityScape, I think you are refering to, it's in the designing stage. I talked to the BDC project manager for CityScape. From what I understand from him, both CityScape AND 300 East Pratt are coming along.
I don't know why, but, I think that August is going to be a month that will reveal allot of info AND renderings on some of these projects we've been LUSTING over. LOL. :D ;)

Imagine the following:
Zenith= 200 units, 300 East Pratt= 250 units, 1 Light St=250 units, Cityscape= 300 units, Water Tower= 300 units, and St. Regis complex=200 to 300 units. This would add about 3,000 people living in the Central Business District or a real 24 hour enviroment in Center City not to mention a great skyline.







Thanks, Hugh. I generally try to keep up with our post count. When 500 posts happen it's time to start over. :D

About "CityScape, I think you are refering to, it's in the designing stage. I talked to the BDC project manager for CityScape. From what I understand from him, both CityScape AND 300 East Pratt are coming along.
I don't know why, but, I think that August is going to be a month that will reveal allot of info AND renderings on some of these projects we've been LUSTING over. LOL. :D ;)

Ditto. :)

All of these projects plus the Key highway redevelopment is going to bring a lot of triffic downtown.

yeah, that has been one of my biggest concerns/questions. How and WHEN will upgrades to public transportation begin? :? Who will pay for it? Where will it be? :?

Well, one thing, until public transportation grows with all the other new developments both commercial and residential, maybe some business big and small will profit more by slower traffic and more foot travel. :) I guess we'll have to wait and see about that one. :D

On waj0527's map The Korean War Memorial park is an excellent location to see the work ocuring at Canton Crossing.

I'd love to see some up-to-date construction pix of the Canton Crossing projects. :D
Wouldn't you? :D :D :D

Let's keep this link pretty close by: http://www.arcwheeler.com/projects/414lightstreet.php

In the next 3 or 4 weeks it will be interesting to see updates on this most exciting project for Baltimore. :)

How long til the Westside looks the renderings developers released?:

http://info.rentnet.com/property/98/432598/photo/432598.p01.jpg

http://www.downtownwestside.com/images/photos/350x225/centerpoint.jpg

http://www.downtownwestside.com/images/photos/350x225/quadrangle.jpg

http://www.rent.com/media/property/485488/655568_w.jpg

yeah, that has been one of my biggest concerns/questions. How and WHEN will upgrades to public transportation begin? :? Who will pay for it? Where will it be? :? Well, one thing, until public transportation grows with all the other new developments both commercial and residential, maybe some business big and small will profit more by slower traffic and more foot travel. :) I guess we'll have to wait and see about that one. :D

I don't think anybody profits when transportation slows things down. Over the years a number of corporate presences in the city have cited transportation and parking as reasons to move to the 'burbs. I'm really hoping something emerges in the way of a new idea on this because right now, it's all in the hands of the Md Dept of Transportation and you can read their plan on their web site (www.mtamaryland.com). Suffice to say, at best, improved transit in the city will progress at a glacial pace. Unfortunately MDOT is a multi-modal agency that serves the entire state so transit in the city is just a small piece of the pie for them. Transit stands in the same long line with budget requests for roads in Garrett county, port facilities, toll bridges, and the 800 lb gorillas, the Wilson Bridge and the next Bay Bridge.

Right now, the Red line (Woodlawn to Canton) is about 10 years out at best. The Green Line (extension of the Subway northeast from Hopkins Hospital) comes after that. It will be intersting to see what comes from the current bus line revision plan. It has long been needed but every tiny little change will be controversial and you can expect to see media photos of little old ladies with their walkers standing vainly at retired bus stops, waiting to get to their doctor appointment. I wish I knew where all this ends up because I really think that, along with the school system, nothing else holds such a strangle hold on the city's progress.

Having transit in the hands of the State just won't move things along fast enough. Projects that require federal funds will move even slower than the State since the State has to come up with a detailed plan, spend a lot of its own money and THEN stand in line for Federal money, which may take years. We need a conclave of creative thinkers who can come up with concrete proposals that don't have costs in the billions and that can start being built now. Who knows, maybe the talked-about Charles St trolley can be the start of something, but cost-wise, I can't see that being cheap or fast either since it's basically low-end version of light rail and requires building tracks and wires on current streets. I wish I knew the answer to all this because, like many people, I struggle with getting places in the city every day and sometimes just get sick and tired of the aggravation. The rails are not extensive enough, the buses are slow it best and when I drive somewhere, parking is always a hassle, even for a person like me who has paranormal ability to find parking spaces anywhere.

Just imagine the Arc Wheeler project and the Westin Con. hotel almost side by side if built with the Arc Wheeler project atleast a hundred feet taller than the Westin. That would be crazy. I'm guessing that RKTL would get the AW project or maybe Design Collective. Since these are privately owned project we could see sonstruction start in a matter of months not years. With the current convention hotel plan already $105 million over and striking lots of bad press, I see the Westin 45% back on track, the current hotel plan seems to be in the paper everyday with something bad about it so who knows.

Private hotel deal
Hackerman plan may kick in if city deal fails
Heather Harlan
Staff

The CEO of Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. is prepared to build a hotel behind the Sheraton Inner Harbor, just steps from the city's Convention Center -- if the city's publicly funded project crumbles, according to real estate sources familiar with the plan.

The Baltimore City Council is expected to vote July 11 whether to approve the $305 million, 100-percent, publicly financed convention headquarters hotel just outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards downtown. Mayor Martin O'Malley and the Baltimore Development Corp., advocates of the proposal, have argued that since 9-11, a convention headquarters hotel outside of New York or a resort area has not been built without public subsidy.

Willard Hackerman, the Whiting Turner CEO who has a long-standing policy of prohibiting his employees from talking with the media, could not be reached for comment.

The CEO's behind-the-scenes discussions raise a key question, though: Why should the city use taxpayer money to fully fund a hotel if private developers are willing to make that move?

Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who has led opposition against the proposed publicly financed headquarters hotel, said he would have to see Hackerman's latest hotel designs before deciding whether a new property on Conway Street or one combined with an existing Sheraton Hotel near Hackerman's site could supplant the city's plans.

"We've heard all of the arguments that there needs to be more rooms to support the Convention Center," Mitchell said. "If Mr. Hackerman is willing to build on that site near the Convention Center, I think that's fantastic."

Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee, had a different perspective. Even the initial planning for a new convention headquarters hotel can stimulate further hotel development or expansion of existing properties, he said.

"I think the fact that a convention headquarters hotel would be built would give other private companies reason to look at their investments and see if they need to expand," Fry said.

Once Denver proceeded with plans to build a convention headquarters hotel, other private investors decided to jump into the game. In November 2004, Stonebridge Cos. of Colorado announced plans to build a 220-room Hilton Garden Inn limited-service hotel across from the Hyatt Denver Convention Center Hotel.

During a recent hearing about Baltimore's proposed convention center hotel, Cheryl Cohen, Denver's manager of revenue, said the privately financed hotels that began to take shape -- once Denver decided to move forward with a publicly financed project -- were much smaller in scope and scale.

The proposed convention headquarters hotel in Baltimore would be a Hilton with 750 rooms. The city's largest hotel, the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, has 751 rooms, but stands about a mile from the Convention Center.

The Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel has 337 rooms. The site behind the Sheraton that Hackerman controls is about a half acre, according to state property records, and could accommodate a tall building.

The Baltimore Business Journal first reported in June 2002 that Hackerman had purchased the land along Conway Street for $1.7 million, raising speculation that he could extend the existing Sheraton Inner Harbor into a much-needed convention headquarters hotel.

Hackerman was one of the bidders whose proposal was rejected by the city in favor of the Hilton, led by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson.

In October 2003, the group led by Hackerman asked the mayor to strongly reconsider its alternative plan to construct a Westin on Conway Street behind the Sheraton. With a link to the Sheraton, the team -- including local developer Otis Warren, national development firm Garfield Traub and Baltimore architect Peter Fillat -- said the combined properties would serve as a convention headquarters hotel.

Even though Hackerman's alternative plan showed some private investment, public subsidy would be needed, according to those familiar with the proposal.

Ray Garfield, principal of Garfield Traub Development in Texas, said he and his firm are simply "sitting on the sidelines'' waiting to see how the Baltimore situation unfolds. Garfield said the original team, which included his firm, could mobilize in days -- should the publicly financed proposal fall flat.

"Mr. Hackerman's site is an excellent site and one that can be developed more cost effectively,'' Garfield said.

While Hackerman's initial Westin proposal was rejected, the CEO's Towson-based firm is being considered as construction manager for the convention headquarters hotel project.

The Baltimore Development Corp. (BDC) has narrowed its list to Faulkner USA of Austin, Texas, Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Chantilly, Va., and Whiting-Turner, which developed the office tower at 750 E. Pratt St. The BDC has not yet made a final decision.

Consumer electronics chain Best Buy has sights on Downtown Baltimore
Julekha Dash
Staff

Best Buy Co. Inc., the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, has targeted downtown Baltimore as part of its expansion plans.

The move would be an economic boon to a city currently underserved by national retail chains and mirrors a trend among big box retailers making forays into urban markets after years of neglect, retail experts say.

The Minneapolis store is "looking at being a part of the [Downtown Baltimore] area," Best Buy Spokesman Jay Musolf said.

"This is another way to add convenience for residents of Baltimore that live in downtown," without having to drive to other store locations, he said.

Other Baltimore area Best Buy stores are in Woodlawn, Towson, Glen Burnie, White Marsh and Columbia.

But Musolf could not divulge where the downtown store would go or when it would open until at least later this month because the company has not yet officially announced a signed lease agreement.

Only a handful of downtown spots could accommodate a retailer whose stores range in size between 20,000 and 45,000 square feet. Lockwood Place, a restaurant and retail site under construction, will include a single retailer on its third floor, which is 30,000 square feet, said John Meyer, a principal at KLNB Retail Inc.

Meyer said the Towson retail broker is negotiating with a variety of retailers but declined to say whether Best Buy is one of them. The complex will open in spring 2006 and will include stores that are not already downtown, he said. The shell of the building, located at Pratt and Market Place, will be completed by year's end, Meyer said.

Ronald M. Kreitner, executive director of WestSide Renaissance Inc., said he was unaware of any discussions to lure the consumer electronics chain to West Baltimore, which is undergoing revitalization efforts.

Best Buy's entry into downtown will encourage other lifestyle retailers to come on board since chain stores "tend to follow one another," said Nan Rohrer, director of retail development at Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc.

The store's interest in downtown follows that of another national big-box retailer, Office Depot Inc., which opened two downtown outlets within the past year. An influx of downtown residents -- which will total 10,000 by year's end -- has motivated retailers to consider downtown more seriously than in the past, Rohrer said.

A Baltimore store would further Best Buy's penetration in urban markets, Musolf said. This year alone, the company opened its third outlet in Manhattan and stores in Atlanta and Chicago.

In the quarter ending May 28, Best Buy opened 11 new stores in the United States. The new stores helped fuel a 12 percent revenue increase to 6.1 billion, with MP3 players, digital TVs, video games, digital cameras and notebook computers supplying the strongest sales. The company, which operates 840 stores in the United States and Canada, had $27 billion in fiscal year 2005 sales and earned $984 million in net income.


© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

OPINION
From the July 8, 2005 print edition
'Housing bubble' won't burst in city

"Housing bubble" has become a quite ubiquitous phrase in the American lexicon over the past several years.

The bubble never seems to burst or deflate, but every new quarter brings with it dire warnings of a market correction that will send the value of our homes and our real estate investments into the abyss.

It has happened before: Southern California's housing market was on fire in the mid-1980s. By the recession years of the early '90s, though, many homeowners were holding mortgages that far exceeded the value of their houses. Foreclosures were rampant.

Willl that happen in Baltimore and other areas that have experienced years of rapid house price inflation? According to local economist Anirban Basu, who writes our "Economic Barometer" reports each week, the Baltimore area is less vulnerable to a large correction than other metros.

The major reason is that the Baltimore area is surrounded by more expensive metros. While $200,000 for a bungalow in the city neighborhood of Hamilton is shocking to locals, it is still considered a bargain to families and investors coming in from the outside. And a lot of people and money are indeed coming in from the outside.

Another indication that Baltimore's housing market is not out of control is the relatively small percentage here of interest-only, variable-rate mortgages, which are riskier than conventional loans. Only 19 percent of mortgages in Greater Baltimore are interest-only, compared with 48 percent in San Diego and 45 percent in Atlanta.

So what's the bottom line? Baltimore is still a solid investment and should remain that way for at least the next several years.


© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

But Musolf could not divulge where the downtown store would go or when it would open until at least later this month because the company has not yet officially announced a signed lease agreement

Wait, it sounds like this is really going to happen. I doubt this is a matter of if Best Buy is coming downtown, but when and where. Does Harbor East have the square footage to accomodate Best Buy? Im sure Canton Crossing does/will. Is Lockwood Place really a viable option? Are they looking to stand alone or be with other potential "big box" retailers on the westside?

So many questions.

Wait, it sounds like this is really going to happen. I doubt this is a matter of if Best Buy is coming downtown, but when and where. Does Harbor East have the square footage to accomodate Best Buy? Im sure Canton Crossing does/will. Is Lockwood Place really a viable option? Are they looking to stand alone or be with other potential "big box" retailers on the westside?

So many questions.

I wonder how much square footage there is in the old Gutman's department store on Lexington Street? Something big like Best Buy would really kick start that stretch of Lexington.

Baltimore City Council Delays Hotel Decision 7:45 AM

Jul 11, 2005 7:45 am US/Eastern
Baltimore, MD. (AP) Baltimore City Council members aren't ready to approve a 305 million dollar convention center hotel that would be the city's costliest public project.

Hotel advocates had hoped the project would go to a vote today.

But the council will instead continue asking questions at a work session -- trying to get a handle on the complex and increasingly controversial proposal.

Doubts are shared by at least half the council.

Of the council's 15 members, only three say they fully support a convention center hotel that the city would develop, own and pay for with revenue bonds.

Eight say they oppose it or are leaning against it. Three haven't made up their minds, and one didn't respond to inquiries.

This is that chance Hackerman has been waiting for...now is the time for him to put his money where his mouth is and re-enter this circus. Also, did anyone read the article in the BBJ about hoteliers and their marketing efforts to boost lackluster 2006 bookings? In the past, Sheraton, Hyatt, Marriott and Renaissance have been vehemently against construction of a large 700+ room facility in the city, fearing a glut. It would be interesting to learn how they feel about a convention center hotel these days?

The old Gutman's store has about 24,000 square feet on the ground floor. The perceived challenges of a Gutman or Lockwood site is that of parking. While most customers can purchase and lug a CD or cell phone out of the store without any problem, imagine carrying a 54 inch plasma TV or a home theater system onto a bus.

The Gutman parcels are large enough to accommodate several floors of retail. A multipurpose garage could be constructed directly south of the store and connected with the Best Buy.

Here in Arlington, the Best Buy at Pentagon City is located in a high density area at a Metro stop along with validated garage parking. While Best Buy did open another larger store about a mile away with the traditional (free) parking lot, the Pentagon City location continues to thrive. At this point, given the lack of a electronic retailer in downtown Baltimore, no matter where they locate the store, provide validated parking and I the store will thrive.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/11/daily4.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Article on the Hopkins BioPark. They're starting by demolishing 18 vacant rowhouses. The first building will be seven stories and will break ground in August. The remaining 530 homes will be demolishing later.

I like how they emphasized that they will wait for the residents to move out before demolishing their homes....

Speaking of the Biotech parks, I've heard so much about both of them, but I'm still a little unclear about their specifications. Which one is further along? Are they more or less the same size? Does their stand to be fierce competition between them? When do they plan to be completed by? Are their any exciting projects with in them that I should know about?

Can someone fill me in?

The U of MD is farther along. It already has its first building and parking up.
However, the U of MD park is slated for $400 mill, and JHU is more than double that. No renderings of the buildings exist. I'm not sure on sq footage.

I can't see Best Buy in the CBD. Maybe across Falls Road near the RLM, or Canton, or maybe even state center. If the Zenith, and/or CCH fall through, (which both sound highly likely at this point) I can see that area being turned into a retail hub. It could be huge before and after O's and Ravens games.

And does anyone know what is going on on Fayette St. from Falls to Broadway. I see tons of equipment moving in and fencing off has started. What the hell is going on in this very seedy area?

The U of MD is farther along. It already has its first building and parking up.
However, the U of MD park is slated for $400 mill, and JHU is more than double that. No renderings of the buildings exist. I'm not sure on sq footage.


I have seen renderings of both.

Here is a quote from another thread I posted in a month ago

The Johns Hopkins Biotech park is a super exciting project. For those who don't know, they are taking 80 acres of blighted housing directly north of thier hospital and completely re-doing it. 22 acres of it will be the actual biotech park, while the other 60 acres will be a mix of retail and new and renovated housing. The city has begun the work of repossessing the house and clearing the land. Here are a few pictures.

Look at the massive scale of the project. The hospital in the top right.
http://img123.echo.cx/img123/4738/1281persaerialafter2pa.jpg

Check out how many blocks this project will encompass
http://img123.echo.cx/img123/1712/januarymasterplan6zf.jpg

More info
http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/news/biotech/ebbiotech.html

The University of Maryland Biopark, on the other side of town, though smaller in scale actually has just as big a residential aspect surrounding it. The city is basicly turning over the entire neighborhood of Poppleton, which surrounds the park, over to a developer who plans on putting upscale housing, retail, and a movie theatre there.

Here is a picture of the park which is already under construction
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/2966/imgrendering8zg.jpg

Here are the latest construction photos of the UMD park
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/5677/p613006335lf.jpg
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/600/p613006411fj.jpg

Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who has led opposition against the proposed publicly financed headquarters hotel, said he would have to see Hackerman's latest hotel designs before deciding whether a new property on Conway Street or one combined with an existing Sheraton Hotel near Hackerman's site could supplant the city's plans.


Did the initial plans call for combining the existing Sheraton with the new hotel or is that something new?

not sure, but I'd love to see the new conway street hotel design. :D

"The Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel has 337 rooms. The site behind the Sheraton that Hackerman controls is about a half acre, according to state property records, and could accommodate a (tall building).

The Baltimore Business Journal first reported in June 2002 that Hackerman had purchased the land along Conway Street for $1.7 million, raising speculation that he could extend the existing Sheraton Inner Harbor into a much-needed convention headquarters hotel."

I think the only grumbling about Hackerman's proposal came from the old Otterbein Methodist church. I can understand how they feel, especially since they've been there since before the Revolutionary War, but in order to remain in the present, they have to yeld to a certain degree to the future.

Here's a good link, guys: http://www.pfarc.com/westin.html

University of Baltimore Plans $100 Million Project to Revitalize Midtown Baltimore
Jen DeGregorio
The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD)
July 8, 2005
Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires

The University of Baltimore has assembled a team of private developers to build what could be as much as a $100 million mixed-use development on three surface parking lots in the city's midtown, a project expected to begin in about 18 months.

Greenbelt-based Bozzuto Group, Howard County-based Gould Co. and Washington-based PMI Parking were chosen for the project, which is hoped to meet a need for student parking as well as inject more life and commerce in Mount Vernon, Bolton Hill and other midtown neighborhoods.

The plans, which are still tentative, call for a market-rate apartment complex with 1,500 parking spaces on a four-acre lot at Mount Royal Avenue and Oliver Street. Office and retail centers are also planned on a one-acre lot at Mount Royal and Charles Street and a smaller lot at Mount Royal and Cathedral Street. The number of apartment units has yet to be determined.

University President Robert L. Bogomolny said the school had long planned to put the parking lots to more profitable uses, but knew that the money for such a project was not available in the state budget.

The largely commuter school's enrollment is at an all-time high of more than 5,000, and officials see that number expanding over the next 10 years, Bogomolny said.

"We recognized that there were going to be state support issues" to the university's development plans. "And we were unwilling to raise tuition beyond what we absolutely had to," Bogomolny said.

But the city's strong real estate market gave officials the idea that the private sector would want in on the deal.

"It's an incredible neighborhood, it's got an incredible location and it's got this historic and wonderful cultural aspect to it," said Toby Bozzuto, vice president of Bozzuto Development Co. He cited the university's proximity to the Jones Falls Expressway, light rail stops and Penn Station among the project's attractions.

While designs and other details are still tentative, Bozzuto said the buildings would feed off the area's high concentration of students and young professionals, a demographic that draws restaurants and small specialty shops.

Neighborhood residents and planners are also anticipating that any new development would bring a supermarket, which the area is missing.

The closest supermarket is a Safeway on Charles and 25th streets. A Super Fresh is also expected to move into the Charles Plaza development at the corner of Saratoga and Charles streets.

"Our input to them was, basically, get a good upscale grocery store," said R. Paul Warren, vice president of the Mount Vernon Belvedere Association.

Architecture is another concern for the association, which is entrenched in a dispute with the city over height limits for new construction in Mount Vernon, a neighborhood known for its early 20th century buildings.

"We're really flexible about what would go on up there" as the majority of the development would fall in Bolton Hill and outside the historic district, Warren said.

But "our primary concern there is architecture, world class architecture. Height isn't so much of an issue," he said.

Bozzuto said the development team would work with the community during the coming months to get feedback on plans.

"We want to create synergies with the university and the community," Bozzuto said. "We see these three sites as community assets, or they could be when they are improved beyond surface parking lots."

The project might also help bring together midtown and city neighborhoods north of Mount Royal.

"Their project could build a bridge to the growing arts district in Station North," said J. Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc.

"It will change a lot," Rebecca Gagalis, executive director of Charles Street Development Corp., said of the project. "It's going to change the whole cityscape coming in from [Interstate] 83."

Municipal Market To Undergo Changes
Monday, July 11, 2005
WBAL Radio as Reported by Angela Jackson

One of Baltimore's six municipal markets is undergoing a face lift. From now through September, Cross Street Market is undergoing $1.3 million in exterior and interior renovations.

Market officials believe the changes will be on par with other revitalization efforts in South Baltimore.

"Cross Street Market has long been a focal point for the community and for the business community and we wanted to make sure we were keeping pace with the changes in the area," said Casper Genco, executive director of the Baltimore Public Market System.

Located between *Charles and Light Streets,* Cross Street Market is in the center of Federal Hill, and has been an anchor of South Baltimore since it opened in 1846, according to Genco.

He added minor changes to the building have happened over the years, but the current project is the most extensive.

There are over 20 merchants in the market. Renovations include an updated and freshly painted brick façade, new entrance signs and new and improved exterior and interior lighting.

Baltimore's public markets, with the exception of Lexington Market, are neighborhood markets that play a vital role in the community, according to Genco.

"They very much reflect the flavor and the feel of the community and that's why they've been so successful for such a long period of time," he said.

Nick's Seafood, the market's cornerstone for years, is closing from mid-July through September because of the construction project.


Neighborhood standby to change with the times
The half-century-old Cross Street Market building will get a face-lift that vendors hope will draw new customers without alienating its longtime fans.
By Justin Fenton
Sun Staff
Originally published July 12, 2005
Cross Street Market in Federal Hill is undergoing a $1.3 million face-lift over the next two months, temporarily shutting down a popular seafood bar as part of the first major renovation since the structure was built more than 50 years ago.

In an effort to better mesh with other revitalization projects in the South Baltimore neighborhood, the market's entrances - now marked by a retro-style multicolored cupola - will feature a new brick facade with a sign illuminated by gooseneck light fixtures, while the inside will get improved lighting and a new ceramic tile floor.

The Light Street entrance is closed; it will reopen when construction begins on the entrance on the opposite side on Charles Street.

Tommy Chagouris, owner of Nick's Inner Harbour Seafood, said it is time to upgrade the market, which has sold baked goods, seafood, meats, produce and flowers in various locations throughout South Baltimore since the 1840s. He acknowledges that his regular customers might not be initially pleased because they relish the market's atmosphere, which offers a step back in time.

But while neighborhood development over the past few years has brought in more tourists and residents, it has also ushered in more upscale bars, restaurants and supermarkets that have taken away some of Cross Street's customers.

"If you spent an afternoon here hanging out and talking to people, everybody would say the same thing - leave it alone. Don't do anything. This is the way we like it," Chagouris said. "I walk a very fine line with the regular customers. But the market needs it. My business needs it."

Almost three years ago, Whole Foods Market, an upscale grocery store open seven days a week, opened less than two miles away at Inner Harbor East and began to siphon away business. Last January, Cross Street vendors started shutting down at 6 p.m., one hour earlier, a move rejected by the organization that oversees the city's public markets.

The market is now dotted with empty stalls, which officials hope can be home to new businesses. By retaining its array of vendors and products, the market is banking that regulars will keep coming while the new look will bring new customers.

"We'll sweat it out, just like anything else," said Steve Bongiovani, an owner of Bongiovani & Sons, which has sold produce at the market for over 40 years. "Anything they do for us is a plus."

The upgrades may mean sacrificing some of the market's character. Besides the wet concrete floors and narrow aisles reminiscent of the days when people relied on public markets for groceries, the colorful cupolas are the image perhaps most associated with the market.

"It may be something customers were accustomed to seeing, but the new image as a more modern and contemporary building is going to be much more advantageous," said Casper Genco, executive director of Baltimore City Public Markets, which is paying for the renovations.

The market will remain open, though Nick's, the largest spot in the market, will close for two months to get its $600,000 worth of upgrades. Along with a more industrial appearance, the bar, a popular happy-hour destination for young professionals, will add more seating and a deck area, and shift around the sushi, steam bar and grill areas.

"It's time to make some progress. ... I want [the regulars] to say, 'Wow, this place is really nice,'" said Chagouris. "My place is OK, but I think it needs work."

Some customers strolling through the market yesterday said changes in appearance will be welcomed as long as the atmosphere remains the same.

"It's all that personal attention," said Tom Cripps, a retired teacher, as he checked out fresh fish on ice. "This is a real neighborhood place, a real market, not a tourist market."

Great articles. Both those projects should help midtown and Federal Hill keep up with the rapid development taking place elsewhere in the city.

More on the Hotel front......

City Council considers hotel plan amendments
Proposed changes would ensure living wage, open board meetings
By Jill Rosen
Sun Staff
Originally published July 12, 2005
While some Baltimore City Council members continued to stridently object to plans for a publicly funded convention center hotel, signs emerged yesterday that some elected officials see room for compromise in the controversial proposal.

Council President Sheila Dixon introduced a number of draft amendments to bills before the council that would pave the way for a $305 million Hilton that the city would own and develop.

Last week, only three of the council's 15 members told The Sun they fully supported the hotel. The amendments address some of the other members' concerns, though not the most serious ones - the lack of a private investor and whether the need for a hotel to bolster the convention center rivals other city problems such as neighborhood blight.

Council Vice President Stephanie C. Rawlings Blake, who supports the project, said after the meeting that, while some of the opposition is firmly entrenched, she's confident the majority will come around - probably before July 27, when the council could vote on the proposal.

"People may be concerned because this is a novel way of doing things," said Rawlings Blake. "But this novel idea presents unique opportunities for the city."

Baltimore Development Corp., the city's development agency, and Mayor Martin O'Malley say the city needs the 752-room hotel, which would be built adjacent to the downtown convention center, to remain competitive in the convention industry.

The draft amendments would assure a living wage for hotel workers and force the board that would oversee the hotel to follow Maryland's open meetings law.

Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. proposed an amendment that would require the hotel plan to go to a referendum in the next election, but the city's law department said the council does not appear to have the power to do that.

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said she is pleased with the living-wage guarantee - an issue she had been vocal about the past few weeks.

Though that alone isn't enough to win her support, Clarke said, it's a start and shows there is room for compromise.

"It seems to be open to all kinds of amendments," she said.

In addition to the amendments, hotel advocates also were stepping up their efforts yesterday to pacify the opposition behind the scenes.

O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the mayor was conferring with Dixon and had begun calling council members to win their support.

Although the Planning Commission and major unions enthusiastically endorse the project, for the last month it's received near nonstop criticism. Everyone from inner-city clergy demanding aid for Baltimore's struggling neighborhoods to Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan to a report by the Abell Foundation has disapproved of elements of the plan.

But the sharpest criticism is coming from the council itself, despite continued assurances from the BDC and tourism officials that the hotel would pay for itself and be an "acceptable" risk for the city to take on.

"How can you expect us to believe Baltimore is one of the world's top destinations for tourists ... but no one wants to do this with us?" Councilwoman Helen L. Holton angrily asked. "Something about that doesn't fit."

Councilman James B. Kraft, a solid member of the opposition, grilled BDC and Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association officials on aspects of the plan, including BACVA's ability and readiness to book groups for the proposed hotel.

When Ronnie Burt, the association's vice president of convention sales, told Kraft that BACVA didn't have a "proactive" selling plan before he arrived this spring, Kraft responded, "Did we need you to arrive from Atlanta to tell us we needed proactive selling teams?"

Kraft also referred to a report done before the center's expansion asserting that Baltimore had enough hotel rooms to handle the additional conventioneers.

"The state of Maryland was virtually assured this was not going to be a cycle of build a convention center and having to build a hotel to support it," he said.

Sun staff writer Doug Donovan contributed to this article.

I'm all for the living wage amendment, I don't see anythink wrong with that. I am, however, getting tired of hearing people say we don't need a hotel at all. I can understand thinking the hotel should not be a priority, or thinking that there simply are not enough funds or that it is too risky to finance a hotel with public money, but it makes sense that if you're a convention planner you would want a location where all who attend the convention can be lodged in one central location. Even if there are enough hotel rooms in Baltimore, I wouldn't want to be in charge of reserving rooms at several different hotels. Just seems like unnecessary work, as well as another reason to choose some other place over Baltimore. Course, I don't really know anything about the convention industry, so maybe it's not that big a deal.

I am concerned, however, about the fact that we are supposed to be this major tourist destination and yet no one wants a piece of our market... Did the other proposals have private investors or were they all planned to be publicly-financed?

Despite the obvious reason of less strain on city funds, the privately-financed hotel would also demonstrate to other investors that Baltimore is a viable market to invest in.

I am concerned, however, about the fact that we are supposed to be this major tourist destination and yet no one wants a piece of our market... Did the other proposals have private investors or were they all planned to be publicly-financed?

I was listening to an interview yesterday with one of the council members who is against the proposal and he made two good points. He first said that all of the RFPs were due in 2002, about a year after 9/11. He said that there was a lot of uncertainty in the world of tourism at that time and that may have played a part in how many RFPs they got back, and how much help they were asking the city for.

The other point that he made was that everyone who submitted the proposals knew that the city was willing to pay a substantial portion of the tab, so therefore the the proposals were submitted accordingly. What person is going to shell out 200-300 million when they know the city might pick up the tab.

He wanted to put out another request for proposals to see if they could get a better plan now, 3 years later.

I think that is definitely an option to consider. Given Baltimore's recent publicity as a revitalized city that is in the middle of a major turn around, I think the response would be greater. Granted, Baltimore was experiencing revitalization in 2002 as well, but it wasn't as certain or as well-known as it is today, and given the uncertainty of markets after 9/11, those who did submit proposals must have had the highest confidence in Baltimore. Although there is no way to make anyone forget that the city is willing to publicly finance the hotel, I still believe better responses would be received if new requests were issued.
Even though postponing the hotel again would simply put it as one of many in a seemingly endless line of projects destined to never be built in the Baltimore skyline, I do believe the rewards for reissuing RFPs would be worth the wait - and this project will be built, I'm sure. It's just a matter of when and how.

The dilemma here is to go back to the RFP route again and waste another year or so, or go ahead with the present plan. The convention bureau is talking about loosing large conventions to other cities. There is a long lead time in which various groups book these events. It will take another two years or so the build the Hilton project if ground were broken today.

The alternative is to start the process over and perhaps get a better deal for the city. Yesterday's Balt. Business Journal, reavealed that Hackerman is considering building a Westin Hotel on the site adjacent to the Sheraton. I think this is a better configuration, and more direct access to the Convention Center. In fact, why not combine the existing Sheraton with the adjacent site into one large hotel?

The Camden Yards site will impede the view of the much acclaimed stadium and the historic Camden Station. Also the need for the unsightly ramps across Howard Street can be avoided.

So do we wait for something better and more practical, or go with something finacially risky and less sightly in order to more quickly get the conventioneers back?

Wait on the Hackerman Conway Street hotel, I say. :D We've been waiting this long, why not a little more?

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/11/daily12.html?jst=b_ln_hl

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/11/story2.html

This tower would have had an Embassy Suites. :)
http://www.pfarc.com/images/97003/09.jpg

That's what I don't understand; if Hackerman wants to build a hotel, why does the city need to finance one? Maybe I'm looking at it too simplistically.

Not sure other than the fact that they probably think they would get more profit faster than giving relief in form of taxes, etc..... :?

Here is a link to the Abell Foundation report. It gives a pretty good breakdown between the different proposals.

http://www.abell.org/pubsitems/ec_hotel_605.pdf

I guess it's still Baltimore, but I'm not liking it...

City slips as area's jobs leader
Baltimore County moves to front in employment; Growth in health care, high-tech
By Jamie Smith Hopkins
Sun Staff
Originally published July 13, 2005
The long leak of people and jobs from city to suburbs has come to this: Baltimore County is now the region's dominant employment hub.

It apparently happened last year as the county was enjoying strong growth and the city continued to lose ground, according to numbers from the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

By the final three months of last year, Baltimore County had 371,900 jobs, new preliminary numbers show. Baltimore had 358,100. As recently as 15 years ago, the city had roughly 90,000 more jobs than it does now.

People who study the region were caught by surprise because they've seen signs that the city is on the rise again, especially downtown, where construction cranes dot the landscape. But they add that the shift has been in the works for half a century, since people began moving out to new suburbs and employers followed. The county surpassed the city in population in the 1990s.

"Oftentimes, Baltimore County's gains are the city's losses," said Richard P. Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute. He said the city is doing better now than at any other time in his 12 years in Maryland but, "Baltimore City's long-term future is clearly at risk as an employment center because of the suburbanization of employment."

The county is gaining jobs largely in health care, business and professional services, and high-tech, the data showed.

Take Franklin Square Hospital Center, in Rosedale. It employs about 2,800 people; last year, it added more than 200 jobs and opened a new cancer institute.

Though many of its workers live in the county, it draws substantial numbers from both the city and Harford County. Franklin Square is part of the shift of the county's economy away from manufacturing and toward services, a change that has also deeply affected the city.

"Right now, we are the largest employer on the east side of the county," said Karen Robertson-Keck, the hospital's assistant vice president for human resources. "Used to be Bethlehem Steel."

David S. Iannucci, head of economic development for the county, thinks the county's recent growth is "a small-business success story overall," but big employers have also played a role. Government contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp. are expanding quickly around the federal complex in Woodlawn. The St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., the insurance giant that bought Baltimore-based USF&G Corp. seven years ago, moved 700 jobs from the city to Hunt Valley last year.

Even the significantly smaller Howard and Anne Arundel counties are employment magnets in their own right now. Together, their job base equals the city's, state numbers show.

Another suburban jurisdiction - Montgomery - has the state's largest concentration of jobs, about 456,000.

City officials weren't happy about the news that Baltimore is no longer the top center of employment in the region, which comes at a time when Mayor Martin O'Malley is hoping to unseat Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. They stressed that the statistics are preliminary and are typically revised, sometimes drastically.

"We have some questions about these numbers," said Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

But Celeste Amato, director of business development for the quasi-public Baltimore Development Corp., said the county's ascendancy has a positive side.

"Baltimore County being strong is only good for Baltimore City, and vice versa," she said. "County workers are certainly buying homes in Baltimore City, which is pretty obvious by our increasing house values."

Tax-paying city residents are a plus no matter where they work, since the piggy-back income tax they pay goes to the jurisdiction in which they live.

Iannucci agreed that the two jurisdictions "are inextricably linked economically."

"Baltimore City is and remains the center for the economy of the Baltimore region," he said. "What we're seeing is Baltimore County's maturity as a powerful economic center of its own."

The state's count of jobs is extracted from information filed by businesses as they pay their unemployment insurance tax. Patrick Arnold, the state's director of labor market analysis and information, said he's confident that the most recent numbers are accurate reflections of the employment picture.

What's less clear is how quickly counties' job bases are expanding or shrinking. That's because in the past, businesses with multiple locations often credited all their employment to their headquarters. The state is now more aggressively pressing companies to report where the jobs really are, Arnold said.

So state numbers show Baltimore County's employment base growing by nearly 11,000 jobs from fall 2003 to fall 2004 - more than any other jurisdiction in Maryland - but the real number is probably about 5,000, he said. Some of the "new" jobs were there all along but credited in the past to, say, the city.

On the flip side, the numbers show losses of 10,300 jobs in the city between fall 2003 and fall 2004, but the majority - possibly all but about 3,000 - were never there to begin with, Arnold said.

That means the county might have gained the upper hand in regional employment before last year, though at the moment the state numbers suggest it happened in January 2004.

The city doesn't want to lose prospects or current employers to anyone, but if it has to, it prefers to lose them to the county that's joined at the hip, said Amato, the BDC official. In fact, the two jurisdictions recently began marketing themselves together to the biotechnology industry because they have assets - not just proximity - in common. They staffed the same booth at a conference in Philadelphia last month and in the past few days launched a joint Web site.

"It's smart for us to accept that Baltimore is Baltimore, and city-county doesn't mean a whole lot when you're trying to attract a business," Amato said.

Though the city was still losing jobs last year, the federal government's separate monthly survey of employers shows a turnaround this past spring: slight growth. That matches Amato's sense of things; she said she's seeing an uptick in interest from businesses considering a move to Baltimore.

These are good signs for a long beleaguered city, said Donald F. Norris, professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Though its primary suburb will probably keep gaining employment heft, Baltimore isn't losing ground at the rate that it once did, he said.

"Look at the skyline of Baltimore City," he said. "Particularly east of the harbor, none of those offices and complexes were there 10 years ago."

Deals for city-owned lots questioned
$2 million below appraisal accepted by BDC for land
By Doug Donovan
Sun Staff
Originally published July 13, 2005
Two city-owned parcels of prime downtown Baltimore real estate were sold for more than $2 million below their appraised market values, according to recently released documents.

The properties bookend a block of Washington Boulevard, with one across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the other next to the proposed site of a publicly financed convention center hotel.

The Baltimore Development Corp., the city's economic development agency that is proposing the hotel, brokered both deals and had the support of Mayor Martin O'Malley and the city's spending board despite appraisals at higher figures.

City Councilman Robert W. Curran, who has been looking into the deals for weeks, said his judiciary and legislative investigations committee will hold a hearing Sept. 12 to publicly demand answers from BDC and city real estate officials.

"I have a problem when developers wag the tail of the BDC" at the expense of taxpayers, Curran said. The BDC is a nonprofit corporation created in 1991, overseeing the development of downtown projects, city-owned businesses and industrial parks.

BDC President M.J. "Jay" Brodie and city Comptroller Joan M. Pratt said the two lots required special consideration to spur their development because of construction difficulties at the sites.

Curran said he does not assume any wrongdoing but wants answers to deals he finds questionable: "The comptroller's office is supposed to be the watchdog. They were silent."

Pratt said the city came up with the best possible prices considering the site limitations.

In January the city agreed to sell a third of an acre at the northeast corner of Greene Street and Washington Boulevard for $609,000 to a group that includes Next Realty Mid-Atlantic of Alexandria, Va., and Duane Taylor, a Baltimore developer. The group plans an eight-story, 126-room hotel called the Inn at Camden Yards.

Taylor, formerly of Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse Inc., had been leasing a portion of the property since December 1999 with an option to buy, operating a parking lot there.

The sale requires Taylor to pay the city $53,000 in unpaid rent and $83,612 in back taxes, penalties and interest, Pratt said. City officials have said they never sent tax bills because of a record-keeping glitch.

The sale price of $609,000 is far less than the $1.29 million appraisal performed in March 2002 at the request of the BDC by Gilbert Advising & Appraising LLC. But the final price was more than a second, $500,000 appraisal that Colliers Pinkard determined for Taylor's team on April 17, 2003.

A critical difference between the two appraisals appears to involve control of an alley that bisects the property - Gilbert's assumed control; Colliers Pinkard's did not.

Brodie said control of the alley would not make a $790,000 difference in value for the 11,230-square-foot property. He said the Gilbert appraisal was too high and did not consider the plot's awkward triangular shape and city utilities beneath.

"The $1.2 million price worked out to $115 per square foot, which doesn't stack up in that area," Brodie said. "The $500,000 is $46 per square foot, which is more consistent" with other deals in that area.

But in a May 2003 letter to Taylor, Brodie wrote that the Colliers Pinkard appraisal used "[out]dated land sales" and "the sale of smaller, mid-block lots that are significantly inferior to this ... site."

He also wrote that BDC did "not accept the appraiser's conclusion that the estimated market value requires" a discount because of the lack of control over the alley.

Nevertheless, Brodie concluded in the letter that "in the interest of the development moving forward ... we propose to accept" a value of $500,000. ($109,000 was added based on another, adjacent portion.)

Taylor could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Real estate experts said governments often sell property below market values to encourage development. But they questioned using dated appraisals.

"They were really stale appraisals on the properties," said Joseph T. "Jody" Landers III, executive vice president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors. "I think for commercial property downtown - particularly in the vicinity of the two stadiums and the University of Maryland - I think they need to let the market work and do a better job at getting competitive offers and make sure they're looking at current appraisals."

John Hentschel, president of Hentschel Real Estate Services and a former real estate officer for the city, agreed.

"The fact that the alley is there or not there is critical to the determination of value," said Hentschel, who is also an appraiser. "It can influence value."

A 30,536-square-foot vacant property used as a parking lot just a block away from Taylor's site was purchased by the University of Maryland Medical System Corp. in May for $4 million, which equals $131 per square foot, according to land records. That's almost triple the $46 per square foot that Brodie said was fair for Taylor's site.

Hentschel said governments consider different factors than private entities when determining values - such as the jobs and economic development a project could spur. Another consideration is the city's commitment to increasing the stake of minority developers in downtown deals, a priority for O'Malley.

"[Duane Taylor] is a young African-American developer," Brodie said yesterday.

Later he added that Taylor's race did not enter into "our economic analysis."

"We're pleased there is minority participation but that doesn't enter into our objective look" at deals, Brodie said.

The second lot is at the southwest corner of Pratt and Paca streets and was sold in December 2003 for $750,000 to a development team featuring several of the city's most prominent minority developers and contractors - Brian D. Morris, Dean S. Harrison and Ronald H. Lipscomb.

The team is building a luxury high-rise condominium called the Zenith, heralded two years ago by O'Malley as an example of outreach to minority-owned businesses.

The city's appraisal for the project was completed by Gilbert on Sept. 14, 2001, more than two years prior to the sale. It stated the value of the 23,015-square-foot property to be $1.96 million, or $85 per square foot.

The price was lowered to $750,000 - $33 per square foot - after Morris and his partners had to reduce the building's height to avoid helicopters from the nearby Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

"We couldn't maximize the use of the property," said Morris, chief executive officer of Legacy Harrison Enterprises and an O'Malley-supported appointee to the city's school board. "We and the BDC determined that the price we paid was a fair price for the property."

Pratt said $350,000 was knocked off the price because the developers would have to spend that much on environmental cleanup. Other terms related to the cleanup could require Zenith to provide the city an additional $175,000.

Curran said he wants further explanations from BDC officials and Pratt, and he thinks the council should be made aware of appraisals before deals are finalized.

He also plans to re-examine the long-delayed plans to extend Key Highway in a northeastern arc, connecting it to Nicholson Street in Locust Point. In December 1999 the city and state agreed to spend $5 million each on the project known as the "loop road." Under the deal, developer C. William Struever's company, Hull Point LLC, would pick up any costs above $10 million. The road would connect Key Highway to Struever's Tide Point development and alleviate truck traffic that now must pass through Locust Point.

Now the city has agreed to take on that additional risk and Curran wants to know why.

Struever said his company has already invested more than $2 million into the project and that its new estimated cost of $19 million stems from the city's desire to install utility, storm water and rail crossing safety improvements along the highway.

Keep in mind the county is more than double the size of the city. I dont think this is a good comparison.


I guess it's still Baltimore, but I'm not liking it...

City slips as area's jobs leader
Baltimore County moves to front in employment; Growth in health care, high-tech
By Jamie Smith Hopkins
Sun Staff
Originally published July 13, 2005
The long leak of people and jobs from city to suburbs has come to this: Baltimore County is now the region's dominant employment hub.

It apparently happened last year as the county was enjoying strong growth and the city continued to lose ground, according to numbers from the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

By the final three months of last year, Baltimore County had 371,900 jobs, new preliminary numbers show. Baltimore had 358,100. As recently as 15 years ago, the city had roughly 90,000 more jobs than it does now.

People who study the region were caught by surprise because they've seen signs that the city is on the rise again, especially downtown, where construction cranes dot the landscape. But they add that the shift has been in the works for half a century, since people began moving out to new suburbs and employers followed. The county surpassed the city in population in the 1990s.

"Oftentimes, Baltimore County's gains are the city's losses," said Richard P. Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute. He said the city is doing better now than at any other time in his 12 years in Maryland but, "Baltimore City's long-term future is clearly at risk as an employment center because of the suburbanization of employment."

The county is gaining jobs largely in health care, business and professional services, and high-tech, the data showed.

Take Franklin Square Hospital Center, in Rosedale. It employs about 2,800 people; last year, it added more than 200 jobs and opened a new cancer institute.

Though many of its workers live in the county, it draws substantial numbers from both the city and Harford County. Franklin Square is part of the shift of the county's economy away from manufacturing and toward services, a change that has also deeply affected the city.

"Right now, we are the largest employer on the east side of the county," said Karen Robertson-Keck, the hospital's assistant vice president for human resources. "Used to be Bethlehem Steel."

David S. Iannucci, head of economic development for the county, thinks the county's recent growth is "a small-business success story overall," but big employers have also played a role. Government contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp. are expanding quickly around the federal complex in Woodlawn. The St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., the insurance giant that bought Baltimore-based USF&G Corp. seven years ago, moved 700 jobs from the city to Hunt Valley last year.

Even the significantly smaller Howard and Anne Arundel counties are employment magnets in their own right now. Together, their job base equals the city's, state numbers show.

Another suburban jurisdiction - Montgomery - has the state's largest concentration of jobs, about 456,000.

City officials weren't happy about the news that Baltimore is no longer the top center of employment in the region, which comes at a time when Mayor Martin O'Malley is hoping to unseat Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. They stressed that the statistics are preliminary and are typically revised, sometimes drastically.

"We have some questions about these numbers," said Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

But Celeste Amato, director of business development for the quasi-public Baltimore Development Corp., said the county's ascendancy has a positive side.

"Baltimore County being strong is only good for Baltimore City, and vice versa," she said. "County workers are certainly buying homes in Baltimore City, which is pretty obvious by our increasing house values."

Tax-paying city residents are a plus no matter where they work, since the piggy-back income tax they pay goes to the jurisdiction in which they live.

Iannucci agreed that the two jurisdictions "are inextricably linked economically."

"Baltimore City is and remains the center for the economy of the Baltimore region," he said. "What we're seeing is Baltimore County's maturity as a powerful economic center of its own."

The state's count of jobs is extracted from information filed by businesses as they pay their unemployment insurance tax. Patrick Arnold, the state's director of labor market analysis and information, said he's confident that the most recent numbers are accurate reflections of the employment picture.

What's less clear is how quickly counties' job bases are expanding or shrinking. That's because in the past, businesses with multiple locations often credited all their employment to their headquarters. The state is now more aggressively pressing companies to report where the jobs really are, Arnold said.

So state numbers show Baltimore County's employment base growing by nearly 11,000 jobs from fall 2003 to fall 2004 - more than any other jurisdiction in Maryland - but the real number is probably about 5,000, he said. Some of the "new" jobs were there all along but credited in the past to, say, the city.

On the flip side, the numbers show losses of 10,300 jobs in the city between fall 2003 and fall 2004, but the majority - possibly all but about 3,000 - were never there to begin with, Arnold said.

That means the county might have gained the upper hand in regional employment before last year, though at the moment the state numbers suggest it happened in January 2004.

The city doesn't want to lose prospects or current employers to anyone, but if it has to, it prefers to lose them to the county that's joined at the hip, said Amato, the BDC official. In fact, the two jurisdictions recently began marketing themselves together to the biotechnology industry because they have assets - not just proximity - in common. They staffed the same booth at a conference in Philadelphia last month and in the past few days launched a joint Web site.

"It's smart for us to accept that Baltimore is Baltimore, and city-county doesn't mean a whole lot when you're trying to attract a business," Amato said.

Though the city was still losing jobs last year, the federal government's separate monthly survey of employers shows a turnaround this past spring: slight growth. That matches Amato's sense of things; she said she's seeing an uptick in interest from businesses considering a move to Baltimore.

These are good signs for a long beleaguered city, said Donald F. Norris, professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Though its primary suburb will probably keep gaining employment heft, Baltimore isn't losing ground at the rate that it once did, he said.

"Look at the skyline of Baltimore City," he said. "Particularly east of the harbor, none of those offices and complexes were there 10 years ago."

Does Legacy-Harrison have a website? They have so many projects going on in the Baltimore area and it's often hard to find out about them because I've never been able to find a website for them. Anyone know?

This is true. The county is much larger than the city...and I assume that once the region reaches a certain size, it is inevitable that the larger Baltimore County will grow to be larger than the smaller Baltimore City - but has the Baltimore region reached this size yet, or do people still prefer a surburban setting to an urban one? How do other cities that are located within larger counties compare?

In other news, this is one project that seems to be going against the trends and moving along fairly fast.

http://www.charlesstreet.org/PDF/final%20report_exec_sum.pdf

This is one project that I'm excited about a lot. The people of Baltimore need to be exposed to more rail once again. I think rail is a lot like heroine - once you've had a taste you can't help but to demand more.

In other news, this is one project that seems to be going against the trends and moving along fairly fast.

http://www.charlesstreet.org/PDF/final%20report_exec_sum.pdf

This is one project that I'm excited about a lot. The people of Baltimore need to be exposed to more rail once again. I think rail is a lot like heroine - once you've had a taste you can't help but to demand more.

There is a major advantage to streetcars that was omitted in the referenced report. Streecars are quiet and non-polluting.

However, there are downsides to this technology that the community and riders are going to have to deal with. (1) Riders often have to board the cars in the middle of the street. If the tracks are in the curb lane, deliveries cannot not be made to businesses and residents. (2) The interaction with streetcars and automotive traffic. Vehicles must wait while streecars pickup their riders. (3) Streetcar breakdowns. What happens on a fixed guideway when one vehicle is disabled? (4) Where are cars stored? (5) How do the cars layover at the end of the line. Do they simply sit idle in the middle of the street?

The report does not address these questions. Those problems led to demise of this technology. Streetcars are neat, but the reality of re-introducing this late 19th century technology into the 21st is going to be a tough sell.

Haven't they been reintroducing street cars in other parts of the country? How do these cities deal with such problems?

Haven't they been reintroducing street cars in other parts of the country? How do these cities deal with such problems?

Streetcars are usually separated from auto traffic, either by private right-of-way or dedicated lanes on wide streets. In Philadelphia and Boston streetcars operate either below ground or above. In San Francisco they operate with traffic on wide streets. Portland Oregon has just begun service on downtown streets, and I believe it runs with traffic. However, Portland is a more daring city and ecologically astute. In fact, I think the red streetcar on the cover of the report is the one in Portland.

I am not saying it cannot be done in Baltimore, but the streets being considered are quite narrow - especially downtown. Knowing Baltimore's love affair with autos, there is going to be a lot of gripping if and when this plan is seriously considered.

In an earlier post I suggested using double-decker buses. They are very popular with tourists in New York. They are also visible and should attract the curiosity of visitors to the city. It can be done quicker and cheaper than streetcars. This also provides more flexibilty in establishing routes. I think the Charles Street Midtown group ought to visit the Big Apple and see how successful they are and how easily it can be adapted to Baltimore's needs.

Don't the concerns raised here also apply to the sections of the light rail that run on Howard Street? Also, what differentiates streetcars from light rail?

I may be wrong, but I think the main differences between streetcars and light rail is that streetcars are smaller and more intimate then light rail, and streetcars are run individually where as light rail can and do have multiple cars attached.

Also, construction of a streetcar line costs millions less then light rail.

Thanks for that. I just looked it up on Wikipedia (guess I could have done that to begin with, hey?) and it pretty much says what you said. In some cases the terms have been used interchangably:
"In Toronto, the city Transit Commission had to rename a recent project to build a dedicated right of way for one of its streetcar lines as a 'new, modern LRT' in order to obtain the support of politicians, and then change it back to a 'normal, familiar streetcar' to be accepted by the area's residents (the actual project was the same the entire time)."

Portland opened their streetcar line in 2001 and the system has already paid for itself, plus the fact that millions in development along the route have occured. If you're waiting for that big development push into Mt. Vernon and Charles Village, this is the city's big opportunity.

In terms of having to wait behind the streetcar when it lets people on and off, that's what happens with the buses now. How many times have you driven around a bus that has stopped? If the street is too narrow to allow you to go around it, you're just going to have to sit and wait. That goes for anything, bus, delivery truck, streetcar.

I'm so excited that this plan is even being considered. I for one am keeping my fingers crossed that it actually happens, and happens soon.

I agree with you Chris; the sooner the better. I do agree with some older comments that the line would be better placed farther from the light rail to serve different areas, but as you say, this line will spur more development, and other routes will come in time.

If this does get built I'd like to see it, the light rail and subway presented as a unified system, on the same map, accepting the same tickets, etc.

I think this could be a good thing, but the key to its sucess will be how much they charge to ride the thing.

First and foremost, it should really be designed with Baltimore citizens in mind and therefore should be made fairly cheap. They need to make the fare reasonable so people who live here will see it as a cheaper alternative than driving.

If it only costs me a dollar or two to ride from the Inner Harbor to The Charles, well thats perfect b/c it saves me money on parking. However, if they make it too touristy, they may think they can charge $5 per ride. That times two for my wife, and it costs me more to ride the street car than to just drive up and park.

This is my one complaint about the water taxis. Its much cheaper and faster for me to just drive to Canton or Fells Point and park than to walk to the inner harbor and take a water taxi. It costs $8 to ride them, so no way I'm going to pay $16 for my wife to ride when we can drive and park for a fraction of that cost.

Thank you for listening to my rant
:soapbox:

btw: here is the webpage for the Portland system. It has lots of good information
http://www.portlandstreetcar.org/index.php

How long has this plan been being considered? Apparently this study was done almost a year and a half ago, but I hadn't heard anything about it until maybe a month or so ago. I agree with what you said, Chris, about having to wait behind a streetcar as the same as having to wait behind a bus. The streets in Baltimore are too narrow, so buses just stop in the middle of the road anyway, not like here in Miami where there are littles spots on the side of the road for buses to pull off onto when picking up and dropping off passengers. So, in that instance, the problem already exists and implementing the streetcar wouldn't change it. It's just a problem people have to deal with.
However, Gsol presents a good point about either forcing passengers to board in the middle of the street or prohibiting delivery trucks from making deliveries. Are there alley ways in that area where deliveries could be made instead? Also, though, it's not unusual to see delivery trucks double parked in even Baltimore's most narrow streets. In downtown I've seen trucks parked three deep unloading goods to merchants. Although if this became the rule and not the exception, it might be a problem.....Course it might also give them the slowed traffic they've been looking for......

One more thing...how exactly does slowed traffic bring about better business? Are the suggesting that people will take more notice of the shops and therefore e more inclined to return there when they need something, or are they suggesting people will exit there cars at a traffic jam and do a little shopping before the light turns green...? :)

I agree with you jason on gearing it towards Baltimoreans and not tourists. It needs to be a viable form of transportation, not an attraction in itself. That is my problem with the water taxis - they're so expensive and they market them as though they're a tourist attraction themselves. I came back to Baltimore this past spring to show my girlfriend where I'm from and we did the whole Inner Harbor thing (a little side note, I never really saw the tourist appeal of a lot of the Inner Harbor attractions, but she loved everything there), but anyway we rode on the water taxi. It was $16 and he gave us a STAMP. We didn't even get a ticket or anything, the guy (who I think lived on the water taxi) stamped our hands so that we could get back on later. But after he dropped us off at Fells Point he then informed us that he wouldn't be returning and that the water taxi was finished for the day.....it was 4:30pm. What shit is that? We had to walk back to downtown, not that it's that far, but still. $16 for a five minute boat ride. Anyway, enough on that. The streetcar needs to be designed with a different intent in mind.

Yeah, what a rip off. I thought the whole point of the city forcing the two water taxis to merge was so that they could make it more commuter friendly. If that was the case, then they should make them offer reasonable one way fares. I don't need to ride all day, I just need to go to Fells Point, drink a few beers, and then ride back.

Anyway, I think the street care could do wonders for places like North Ave. It seems like the sucess of the area around The Charles is bound to spread north from there, but something like that could really help that area take off. People could move into housing there knowing that they could easily get downtown. Again, I am 200% behind this project. :)

I think the street car would fail miserable on North Avenue. It has to be in a place that is solid now and can’t be a pioneering type endeavor. I love the Charles street corridor idea because it travels through good parts of town except for the stretch north of the Charles until 26th street at Hopkins. But that is a short stretch. I would like it to continue south through federal hill, turn onto fort to the east. Then north on lawrence and then on key highway to serve the industrial properties which will be turning over to mixed use and then back to the harbor. That would be my wish.

I think the street car would fail miserable on North Avenue. It has to be in a place that is solid now and can’t be a pioneering type endeavor. I love the Charles street corridor idea because it travels through good parts of town except for the stretch north of the Charles until 26th street at Hopkins. But that is a short stretch. I would like it to continue south through federal hill, turn onto fort to the east. Then north on lawrence and then on key highway to serve the industrial properties which will be turning over to mixed use and then back to the harbor. That would be my wish.

no no no.. i think you misunderstood me. I think it would spur development along the intersection of North Ave and Charles St.. Maybe a few blocks of decent housing in that area would then begin to help give North Ave. something to live for
but yes I agree with you.. an east-west North Ave line would fail miserably.

I think sending the line all the way down Key Hwy and maybe even down to Ft. McHenry. Key HWY is the one place along the line that would actually be wide enough to serve traffic and the Streetcar.

no no no.. i think you misunderstood me. I think it would spur development along the intersection of North Ave and Charles St.. Maybe a few blocks of decent housing in that area would then begin to help give North Ave. something to live for
but yes I agree with you.. an east-west North Ave line would fail miserably.

I think sending the line all the way down Key Hwy and maybe even down to Ft. McHenry. Key HWY is the one place along the line that would actually be wide enough to serve traffic and the Streetcar.

I had to come back here because I realized what an asshole I must have sounded like with such harsh writing. So yes, you and I both are thinking about that gap of goodness that is the intersection of charles and north.

Do you guys think a cable car line running east and west pratt would be a good idea? :D
Then a line could run north to south from the light street for a little while south of pratt and all the way to the north of light for about 7 or 8 blocks. Then on the east side a line from pratt going south to harbor east/fells point/Canton. :D
Would this work or am I just dreaming? :D :D :D

Do you guys think a cable car line running east and west pratt would be a good idea? :D
Then a line could run north to south from the light street for a little while south of pratt and all the way to the north of light for about 7 or 8 blocks. Then on the east side a line from pratt going south to harbor east/fells point/Canton. :D
Would this work or am I just dreaming? :D :D :D

Ok heres the deal :)
We get the cable car going north and south from the inner harbor, then we get the Baltimore-Lift going east and west from there.

http://www.baltimorelift.com/

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/817/left4fe.jpg

btw: no offense taken Jeffbaltmore :)

http://www.baltimorelift.com/images/approach/left_details.gif

Very nice website. :) Thanks for posting it. :)

BTW, did you notice in the rendering above 414 Water Street Tower? :D

I agree with you jason on gearing it towards Baltimoreans and not tourists. It needs to be a viable form of transportation, not an attraction in itself. That is my problem with the water taxis - they're so expensive and they market them as though they're a tourist attraction themselves. I came back to Baltimore this past spring to show my girlfriend where I'm from and we did the whole Inner Harbor thing (a little side note, I never really saw the tourist appeal of a lot of the Inner Harbor attractions, but she loved everything there)...

I agree. I don't understand how a lot of the stuff at the Inner Harbor can be considered appealing. I think it was Ed Gunts a few years back who alluded to all the shoreline attractions as being cluttered and tacky. Not his exact words, but that was his gist...

I had to chuckle at your comment about visiting the Inner Harbor with your girlfriend. My wife isn't originally from the United States, but claims to enjoy the Inner Harbor and Baltimore. I have to wonder sometimes if she really likes Baltimore as much as I do, or is it that she likes Baltimore because I do...?

As to the water taxis: $8 is a rip. Back in the late 80s when I worked in Baltimore, I would sometimes park my car in Fells Point and "commute" with the water taxi. Or in the winter I would ride that fake-trolley bus line that ran all over town. At least back then there were two water taxi companies competing. Today it's more of a monopoly...

I would think that if the streetcar system was run by the MTA, then the price would be the same is it is for the subway/light rail/bus. Currently it's $1.60 for a one way trip. If you get a day pass which is I believe $3.50, you can ride all three modes of transportation all day.

By the way Steven, cable cars and streetcars are two different things. The cable cars like the ones in San Francisco are pulled along by a cable underground. Streetcars are run by an overhead electrical wire. Just some useless knowledge I had stored away in my brain.

Yeah, I knew that. :)
I just prefer cable cars for the charm. :D
Street cars are ok, too. :)

BTW, Baltimore and other cities could learn from San Francisco. They got the whole public transportation thing down pat. :) My wife and I and our friend went last year and had NO problem getting around. Car? WHY? It wasn't needed. Price? Try 15 dollars for a WEEKS pass of unlimited public transportation. Subway, cable cars, street cars, busses, etc.... :) Although Baltimore is about 2/3rds larger in city limits size, it has close to the same density. The downtown portions of the city plus Harbor East/Canton/Fellspoint would benifit greatly through a mix of this transports. I see the lifts, cablecars, street cars, subway and the bus system along with the "water Taxis" ;)
Now, the biggest problem, ....... who is going to pay for it all? :D ;)

http://www.baltimorelift.com/images/approach/left_details.gif

Very nice website. :) Thanks for posting it. :)

BTW, did you notice in the rendering above 414 Water Street Tower? :D


^ was just about to say the same thing Steven. Also there are a few other tower renderings in that graphic, they also have a rendering of the Westin Tower too. and also a rendering of an unknown tower a little farther north.

Don't the concerns raised here also apply to the sections of the light rail that run on Howard Street? Also, what differentiates streetcars from light rail?

The concerns raised do apply to the light rail on Howard St since it sucks in that stretch. The LR is miserably slow there due to the lack of signal priority and that wide street only accomodates 1 lane of traffic in each direction. Every time I ride that stretch of track there is amost an accident and invariably the LR has to wait for a car or truck that partially blocks the LR lane. If they do build a street car on Charles St, they ought to make it narrower than the LR. Furthermore, I don't know if this technology still exists, but there used to be trolley cars that were electified (and therefore no diesel noise, vibration, engine heat or odor) but ran on rubber tires and had limited steering so they could turn in and out of traffic and move to the curb for loading passengers. I've heard of them being called "trackless trolleys", but have never seen them still running. Something like that could address the issues of mixing with cars, could minimize costs since no rails would be needed and would still be cute enough that tourists and fussy metrosexuals would ride them.

I agree with you Chris; the sooner the better. I do agree with some older comments that the line would be better placed farther from the light rail to serve different areas, but as you say, this line will spur more development, and other routes will come in time.

If this does get built I'd like to see it, the light rail and subway presented as a unified system, on the same map, accepting the same tickets, etc.

That would be nice, but it would have to come from the MTA, which is not planning anything like a new streetcar line in that location. This plan seems to be completely separate from anything MTA is planning, more of a City initiative.

Ok heres the deal :)
We get the cable car going north and south from the inner harbor, then we get the Baltimore-Lift going east and west from there.

http://www.baltimorelift.com/

btw: no offense taken Jeffbaltmore :)

Do you know if this thing is still under consideration? I heard about it a couple years ago, thought it might be a good idea but never heard anything again. It seems that it was relatively cheap (at least compared to LR or subway) and required very little footprint on the ground (just poles and stairs, although ADA might be a complication on that). I would like to think that thing might actually happen.

In terms of that graphic, Earnie Caldwell, who now works for BDC, drew it. At the time he worked for the City Planning Department. The original copy is rather large, about four feet by four feet, and mostly drawn by hand. Incredible detail…

The lots north of the stadium depict what was then planned as the national headquarters for HCFA (Health Care Financing Administration). There was a heated battle between Baltimore City and Baltimore County for those 2000-3000 jobs. HCFA ended up in Woodlawn.

That small tower just north of the stadium lots depicts the loft style apartment building currently under construction at the northwest corner of Howard and Lombard. With all due respect, in hindsight you have to really wonder what they heck they were thinking to imagine such a small slender tower for an apartment building!

Notice the tall slender tower just north of the 414 Water Street building (414 is rendered here not as an apartment tower, but as an office building). Once it was clear Provident Bank wasn’t going to build their 46-story tower, the city still envisioned for at least some kind of 250,000-350,000 square foot office building at the site. Today, it’s a part of the Mercy Hospital complex (the expansion wing that was just finished a year or two ago).

The Center for Marine Archeology on piers five and six had two towers planned along Pratt Street. I always liked the notion of a small cluster of buildings on the eastern edge of the business district; it would have created a nice gateway in and out of the eastern edge.

But most important, notice the tower behind the Sheraton hotel as well as the tower above the Hyatt garage. At the time of this rendering, the convention center expansion hadn’t even been approved; for that matter businesses were still being moved out of the Camden Yards Industrial Park and demolition for stadium construction had hardly begun. Even at this stage, a “notion” was present that perhaps the parking lot behind the Sheraton was underutilized and could be used as part of a footprint for a hotel of some sort that tied-in with the center; the only downside being Otterbein church would be surrounded.

The Sheraton and Hyatt hotels have been and continue to be evaluated as possible expansion sites for hotel rooms. So far the only other possible scenario that hasn’t been discussed is building a hotel above the convention center expansion. Supposedly when the design work was being done for the expansion, ideas called for designing the trusses that span the expansion with supports for future construction above the center itself for a 45-storey hotel tower. I think this idea was largely abandoned due to the ridiculous cost it would have added to already tight budget. Yet I recall the trusses and center were organized in a manner programmatically to allow the possibility for such a tower in the future.

This convention center hotel-business is hardly over…it’s only now beginning to get interesting!

Not sure if these have been posted before...

Aegon (200 N. Charles)
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/25/aegonaerial10wa.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aegonaerial10wa.jpg)

400 W. Baltimore Street (eww)
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7357/photo400westbaltimore13ik.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photo400westbaltimore13ik.jpg)

Symphony Center
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6194/photosymphony0217kz.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photosymphony0217kz.jpg)

Pier Side at Harborview
http://www.piersideapartments.com/index.html

An undated report on the Baltimore retail sector (check out Centerpoint and Lockwood place designs!)
http://www.godowntownbaltimore.com/publications/Retail_inserts.pdf

Not sure if these have been posted before...

Aegon (200 N. Charles)
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/25/aegonaerial10wa.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aegonaerial10wa.jpg)

400 W. Baltimore Street (eww)
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7357/photo400westbaltimore13ik.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photo400westbaltimore13ik.jpg)

Symphony Center
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6194/photosymphony0217kz.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photosymphony0217kz.jpg)

Pier Side at Harborview
http://www.piersideapartments.com/index.html

An undated report on the Baltimore retail sector (check out Centerpoint and Lockwood place designs!)
http://www.godowntownbaltimore.com/publications/Retail_inserts.pdf

As far as I know the 400 W. Baltimore thing is a no-go, thankfully.

As far as the PDF goes, I think it is a bit dated. The most current information in there seems to be at 2001-2002. As shown by this little snipped:
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/7997/image45bw.jpg

The picture of Centerpoint seems to be right on:
http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/6268/image30lc.jpg

The picture of Lockwood place is an older image and what we're ending up with is a lot less exciting.

The picture of the St. James is interesting to me because this is a Westside project that hasnt gotten underway yet. Its going to be at Franklin and Howard up by the old Mayfare theatre.

http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/8388/image27tk.jpg

Snippet from the Sun today. Its about time they did this, since we've been talking about it on and off for a while. Once they get the Super Fresh in there, that place will be pretty nice.

In other business, the spending board accepted a four-year, $2 million state grant to finance the revitalization of the 1.67-acre Center Plaza in downtown. City departments will work with the Downtown Partnership to implement a plan to install more grass, new walkways, seating, lighting and water fountains to the plaza atop a parking garage north of Fayette Street and between Charles and Liberty streets.

In terms of that graphic, Earnie Caldwell, who now works for BDC, drew it. At the time he worked for the City Planning Department. The original copy is rather large, about four feet by four feet, and mostly drawn by hand. Incredible detail…

The lots north of the stadium depict what was then planned as the national headquarters for HCFA (Health Care Financing Administration). There was a heated battle between Baltimore City and Baltimore County for those 2000-3000 jobs. HCFA ended up in Woodlawn.

That small tower just north of the stadium lots depicts the loft style apartment building currently under construction at the northwest corner of Howard and Lombard. With all due respect, in hindsight you have to really wonder what they heck they were thinking to imagine such a small slender tower for an apartment building!

Notice the tall slender tower just north of the 414 Water Street building (414 is rendered here not as an apartment tower, but as an office building). Once it was clear Provident Bank wasn’t going to build their 46-story tower, the city still envisioned for at least some kind of 250,000-350,000 square foot office building at the site. Today, it’s a part of the Mercy Hospital complex (the expansion wing that was just finished a year or two ago).

The Center for Marine Archeology on piers five and six had two towers planned along Pratt Street. I always liked the notion of a small cluster of buildings on the eastern edge of the business district; it would have created a nice gateway in and out of the eastern edge.

But most important, notice the tower behind the Sheraton hotel as well as the tower above the Hyatt garage. At the time of this rendering, the convention center expansion hadn’t even been approved; for that matter businesses were still being moved out of the Camden Yards Industrial Park and demolition for stadium construction had hardly begun. Even at this stage, a “notion” was present that perhaps the parking lot behind the Sheraton was underutilized and could be used as part of a footprint for a hotel of some sort that tied-in with the center; the only downside being Otterbein church would be surrounded.

The Sheraton and Hyatt hotels have been and continue to be evaluated as possible expansion sites for hotel rooms. So far the only other possible scenario that hasn’t been discussed is building a hotel above the convention center expansion. Supposedly when the design work was being done for the expansion, ideas called for designing the trusses that span the expansion with supports for future construction above the center itself for a 45-storey hotel tower. I think this idea was largely abandoned due to the ridiculous cost it would have added to already tight budget. Yet I recall the trusses and center were organized in a manner programmatically to allow the possibility for such a tower in the future.

This convention center hotel-business is hardly over…it’s only now beginning to get interesting!

Thanks for explaining this to us, Eerik. :)
Good info, indeed! :)

Snippet from the Sun today. Its about time they did this, since we've been talking about it on and off for a while. Once they get the Super Fresh in there, that place will be pretty nice.

Good news. That'll be good for downtown. :)

In today's Sun.com: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.hotel14jul14,1,1187810.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

A good read. :)

Harbor Bank earnings swell almost 30 percent
Rachel Sams
Staff
Earnings at Harbor Bank of Maryland rose nearly 30 percent for the second quarter.


Harbor Bank reported second-quarter earnings of $632,421, or 78 cents per share. A year ago, Harbor Bank earned $490,833, or 57 cents per share.

Officials credit the earnings increase to successful expense controls, quality loan bookings and well-chosen investments. In a statement, CEO Joseph Haskins Jr. said he "looks forward to finishing the year stronger than ever."

Assets rose 3.7 percent from a year ago, reaching an all-time high of $242 million. Loans grew by 11.4 percent to $180 million. And deposits rose 3.6 percent to $217 million.

Harbor Bank ranked ninth on this year's list of the nation's largest African-American-owned banks published in Black Enterprise magazine.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.


I have a question for you guys.

Between 1st Mariner Bank and Harbor Bank, which one has the ability or likihood to becoming a major bank in the future? I mean, like the next big corperate "powerhouse" bank? I say, 1st Mariner Bank. :)

Recognize this Baltimore tower? http://www.baltimorearchitecture.org/images/index.jpg

Recognize this Baltimore tower? http://www.baltimorearchitecture.org/images/index.jpg

I recognize it, but its not there anymore.
The interesting thing is that I heard it was carefully dismantled and stored away, so someday it may rise again.

Snippet from the Sun today. Its about time they did this, since we've been talking about it on and off for a while. Once they get the Super Fresh in there, that place will be pretty nice.

I certainly hope the Center Plaza work gets underway and soon. It was supposed to be completed last year some time. Good to see that the state approved funding this time and Im guessing that the city and the parking garage owner finally settled the dispute that blocked this in the first place.

Nice to see Baltimore upgrading its public squares and plazas. The War Memorial Plaza work is still being done, the upgrade at Center Plaza and Hopkins Plaza should be getting some work esp. when the work at the Mechanic starts.

The concerns raised do apply to the light rail on Howard St since it sucks in that stretch. The LR is miserably slow there due to the lack of signal priority and that wide street only accomodates 1 lane of traffic in each direction. Every time I ride that stretch of track there is amost an accident and invariably the LR has to wait for a car or truck that partially blocks the LR lane. If they do build a street car on Charles St, they ought to make it narrower than the LR. Furthermore, I don't know if this technology still exists, but there used to be trolley cars that were electified (and therefore no diesel noise, vibration, engine heat or odor) but ran on rubber tires and had limited steering so they could turn in and out of traffic and move to the curb for loading passengers. I've heard of them being called "trackless trolleys", but have never seen them still running. Something like that could address the issues of mixing with cars, could minimize costs since no rails would be needed and would still be cute enough that tourists and fussy metrosexuals would ride them.

The "Trackless-trolleys" which you refer to are still a large portion of the bus fleets in San Francisco, Seattle, Dayton and Vancouver. They are ubiquitous in the downtowns of those cities. There is a line I know of in Philadephia, the 59 bus on Castor Avenue.

These are familiar looking buses powered by two overhead wires, they are very quiet and non-polluting. The trolley buses operated around Baltimore until the 60's, most notably along Howard St. Perhaps someone has an old photo.

I don't believe they are that much of an attraction to tourists unless painted in some fashion that raises curiosity. This system is cheaper to build than streetcars and won't impede traffic flow any more than a standard bus.

I recognize it, but its not there anymore.
The interesting thing is that I heard it was carefully dismantled and stored away, so someday it may rise again.

Yes, the clock portion of the tower is saved somewhere. :)

I think sending the line all the way down Key Hwy and maybe even down to Ft. McHenry. Key HWY is the one place along the line that would actually be wide enough to serve traffic and the Streetcar.

That is my ultimate dream in terms of the return of the streetcar. I remember 10 or so years ago when Key Hwy was being fixed up, they had the middle of the street dug out for what turned out to be the tree lined median, but I thought, and even asked one of the workers if they were putting in a light rail line. I was quite disappointed to hear that it wasn't.

I mentioned this a few months ago, I'd love to see a streetcar line run from Fort McHenry to Fells Point. The first step is the Charles Street line. Once that becomes a resounding success, then they can build the Ft. Mc to Fells line.

Another thing I mentioned at the time was, do you think it would be more economical to use the existing streetcar tracks that are buried under the street, or after 40+ years under the asphalt would they be no good?

BTW, happy 100th post to me!

Yes, the clock portion of the tower is saved somewhere. :)
While a couple of additional buildings were demolished along Baltimore Street last year to enlarge the parcel, it is unlikely this project will manifest anytime soon.
http://www.dcestonian.com/baltimore/towerbuildingelevlg.jpg

While a couple of additional buildings were demolished along Baltimore Street last year to enlarge the parcel, it is unlikely this project will manifest anytime soon.
http://www.dcestonian.com/baltimore/towerbuildingelevlg.jpg

Unfortunately Eerik, you're absolutely right. The Tower Building has been gone for nearly 20 years now, and I've never heard of any proposals for that site.

I'd love to know where they've been storing the clock portion all these years!

that is a handsome looking building, though. :)

that is a handsome looking building, though. :)

Of course! It looks just like the old Tower Building but only larger. Might I add that the old one should have never been demolished to begin with.

Yeah, why was it demolished in the first place?

Another view of the Tower Building taken in 1978

http://external.bcpl.lib.md.us/hcdo/images/700_799/7569010.jpg

This is a great shot showing the internal mechanisms of the clock at the Tower Building

http://external.bcpl.lib.md.us/hcdo/images/300_399/3604010.jpg

By the way, I found these pics on a great little site run by the baltimore county public library. Here's the link:

http://external.bcpl.lib.md.us/hcdo/cfdocs/photolisto.cfm

Ahh! The Tower Building! What a shame it came down! For a time, it was Baltimore's tallest office building. Maryland Casualty was based there, and back in the days when Baltimore had an Associated Press office, it was also headquartered there. The building base was fairly large. It had this internal "street" running through it with shops and stores running on both sides.

It was demolished in 1986 and was supposed to be replaced with a new office building.

The building shared some similarities with the Bromo Seltzer tower. Developers knew the floor plate was too small for contemporary offices, and it was simply easier to bring the building down. By the end, while the city, developers, and preservationists scratched their heads wondering what to do with it, and more importantly WHO was going to pay for whatever was decided, the building slowly started to "decay". By the early 1980s the city was forced to surround the tower clock with netting since pieces of the tower began to fall onto the streets below.

There is a classic shot of downtown from the northeast looking down Belair Road/Gay Street. It is a great view of the Tower Building and (current) Bank of America building. Compositionally the skyline never looked as good and tall as it does in that photo. I'll have to find it and post it here...

I just came across this in my searching...I'm sure you've all seen it a million times before, but I thought I'd post it just in case some of you haven't....


Buffs share high hopes for a towering Baltimore
The Web: Skyline aficionados discuss online their obsession for the city and its buildings.
Scott Calvert
Baltimore Sun
June 16, 2004

One night last month, a South Carolina lumber mill worker named Steven Wyatt tapped out a message on his home computer in Newberry.
It was his 494th posting in two years at skyscrapercity.com, a Web site aimed at tower enthusiasts like him. That doesn't include his many related e-mail exchanges with Mayor Martin O'Malley, developers and architects.

The evening's posting was typical for Wyatt, who hopes a 600-foot high-rise - or even better, one closer to 1,000 feet - might yet rise in his beloved hometown, where the blocky 40-story Legg Mason building has long reigned at 538 feet.

"That would be so awesome," wrote Wyatt, 33. "I don't know how I'd react if that actually happened. ... Come on! It's been over 30 years since there has been a new tallest in Baltimore!! I think it's way past time for a new one!"

This from a man who last set foot in Baltimore eight years ago.

These days you can chat online about everything from avocados to zithers. Several sites are devoted just to skyscrapers, with forums for cities such as Baltimore.

It's there you'll often find Wyatt among a dozen local skyline aficionados. They are mostly 30-something men with handles like Baltimoreguy, jobs as engineers or lawn care experts, and spouses who seem amused and amazed by their obsession.

The building buffs share an almost childlike enthusiasm for the city and its buildings. Never mind that downtown has lots of empty office space and that recent towers, if that's the right word, have been in the 15- to 20-story range.

These guys are high on height, even with towers seen as potential targets in the wake of 9/11. Some forum members try to tamp down tower talk or stress the need to respect the skyline's present "composition."

But mostly they dream big and tall. A common view is that the city needs its own Sears Tower or Empire State Building, maybe with residences or hotel rooms instead of offices.

"A lot of us would love to see something gigantic go up that is really a brand name," said Jeffbaltimore, aka Jeffrey Ratnow, a 32-year-old civil engineer at Whitman Requardt and Associates. "So when you say 'Baltimore,' you don't think what most people think: Homicide, The Wire, crime."

Ratnow says his wife, a massage therapist, calls him an "engi-nerd." He's been into skyscrapers since age 6 or 7, when he mailed his resume to the Citibank tower in New York, seeking a job as a window washer.

Wyatt may be the most devoted local forum regular despite living 560 miles away. He posts five times a week on average. He e-mails O'Malley and others for project updates, uploads Baltimore photos and hunts for hints of the elusive "supertall."

"Who's this nut - that's probably what a lot of people think," Wyatt said by phone, his Southern twang showing how long he's been away. "They think it's some big hobby. But it's something more, it's a passion."

Actually, they don't think he's a nut at all.

"What that's an indication of is his interest in stand-out, great architecture," said Larry White, senior development director at Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse.

To White, the city already has an iconic structure: the pyramidal National Aquarium. In a sense, he said, the Inner Harbor defines the city's image.

The city once seemed destined for a loftier profile. In 1929, when a 509-foot Art Deco gem opened at 10 Light St., it was taller than any other East Coast building outside New York. It's now known as the Bank of America tower. Then came the Depression, and 44 years passed before it was eclipsed, in 1973, by what is called the Legg Mason tower. (The William Donald Schaefer tower is said to go higher, thanks to its "mast.")

Since then a handful of towers have risen, some above 400 feet. Today, Baltimore boasts none of the 300 tallest towers in the world, and that seems unlikely to change soon.

Wyatt and the others are fond of the skyline; it's just that they think it needs a growth spurt. Some suggest a Seattle-style space needle as a cheaper alternative. Wyatt understands the economic challenge of building a supertall and believes that developers should set aside their egos and join forces.

Wyatt is polite but opinionated. In e-mail to O'Malley, he calls him "sir." But he did not hide his pique when a city agency chose a different (and shorter) convention center hotel plan from the one Wyatt likes.

"I'm not happy about it at all," he told O'Malley. City Hall replied: "Steve - thanks for your input on this - I appreciate it."

Yet, if pushed, Baltimore forum members will defend the city. When outsiders were asked to rate the skyline on a scale of 1 to 10, most judged it a bit above average. But some slammed it with lines such as, "Unfortunately, charming Baltimore has a weak skyline."

The breaking point came when someone posted serious fighting words: "Not bad for a suburb of Washington, D.C."

Willrusso, aka William Russell of Baltimore, testily replied, "Whatever man."

Russell blamed the city's short buildings on height limits, but conceded, "I think the skyline needs at least 1 or 2 really tall buildings to bring it out."

Wyatt once weighed in about whether Boston or Baltimore had the better skyline:

"I am biased for Baltimore because it's my hometown, but I know that Boston is bigger (skyline and people and image), and much more important world-wide than Baltimore. I like Boston, but I love Baltimore."

Wyatt's attachment is curiously strong for someone who moved away at age 4. He cannot explain the bond, except to say that Baltimore is his hometown.

Wyatt traces his fascination with skyscrapers to Baltimore's own World Trade Center, 423 feet tall. It was April 1984, and Wyatt was in town for a funeral. The day before the service, he went to the top and gazed at the city. He was hooked.

His father, a preacher, moved the family from Florida to Tennessee to Michigan to North Carolina. After high school, Wyatt helped an uncle install mirrors. They worked in South Florida, then in Chicago, sometimes in high-rises.

Thirteen years ago, Wyatt joined his parents in Newberry, where the tallest object is the 130-foot opera house tower. He found work at the lumber mill and married a neighbor, Karen.

"He puts his whole heart in anything he does," she said. "He gets on his computer, finds out things. He talks to the mayor and anybody under the sun."

In 1996, Wyatt took Karen and her son, Cory, to see Baltimore.

"I've been in major withdrawal ever since," Wyatt said. "Maybe one day we can get back there."

Until then, he'll always have the Web.

The thing I find most amazing about that article is that in just over a year, Steven has added another 1100+ posts! It took me six months to get to 100!!

thanks for reposting that.
That was the article that first brought me here a year and a month ago :)

Yeah, the GREATEST thing that came from that article, (and why I agreed to contribute), was the fact that more Baltimore people would become aware of these forum sites and could contribute their input. :) Maybe we should do this sometime, see how many of us there are. :D
I think there may be about 15 to 16 different Baltimore people added since the article.
Jeff Ratnow aka "JeffBaltimore" really has a great deal to do with the local Baltimore voice for our forum. :)
When I came to these forums: www.skyscrapercity.com and www.skyscraperpage.com the only Baltimore people I remember that posted regularly were jeffbaltimore, shakman and Cirrus. A couple of the St. Louis guys supported the Baltimore forum area, too. :D Oh, and a couple of PA guys, too. :)

I am greatful for the article. I am a Baltimorean living in exile in New York. Read the Sun on line everyday, that's how I found the site. Keep it up Steve.

gary

Hail StevenW

I am really glad that someone posted the article that appeared sometime ago in the Sun which I distinctly remember reading before I found this site.

Anyway StevenW we are all indebted to you for bringing us all together and for making this one of the more stellar and successful sites on the skyscraper forums.

However, I don't think the software that tracks the number of posts is accurate because when you post more than once in a day the number of posts doesn't change, e.g. if the total starts at 10 and you post 5 different times during the same day, each additional post is still shown as being 10 and not 11, 12 , 13 ,14, and 15 respectively.

Also StevenW, what is that logo that is under your name? I can't for the life of me figure out what it could be but I have though that it looks like a bird that has been caught up in an oil spill? But I can't really see the relevance of that to Baltimore.

An interesting article about the changes being seen in SoWeBo. I don't venture into BMore too often, but do the rest of you find that change is really as rapid as the media portrays it or do you think it's going a little slower? I'm curious, since it just seems like so much is being done to fix things. :)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-to.kelly16jul16,1,3305896.column?coll=bal-realestate-headlines-1

625 residential units planned for Port Covington site. Wow! It seems like everytime a large abandoned industrial site is taken over, there are several hundred homes and other amenities just lined up.

"Early design plans, presented yesterday to the city's Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel, show two 15-story condo towers and townhouses as well as a smattering of neighborhood-oriented shops."

Sounds pretty good from here. :) When I first read it, it almost sounded like they were planning to build a Wal-Mart, but it turned out one already existed. I was a little relieved to hear the latter was the case... ;) I'm not so sure Wal-Mart and Baltimore go well together.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-bz.covington15jul15,1,4924755.story?coll=bal-realestate-headlines-1

Hail StevenW

I am really glad that someone posted the article that appeared sometime ago in the Sun which I distinctly remember reading before I found this site.

Anyway StevenW we are all indebted to you for bringing us all together and for making this one of the more stellar and successful sites on the skyscraper forums.

However, I don't think the software that tracks the number of posts is accurate because when you post more than once in a day the number of posts doesn't change, e.g. if the total starts at 10 and you post 5 different times during the same day, each additional post is still shown as being 10 and not 11, 12 , 13 ,14, and 15 respectively.

Also StevenW, what is that logo that is under your name? I can't for the life of me figure out what it could be but I have though that it looks like a bird that has been caught up in an oil spill? But I can't really see the relevance of that to Baltimore.

LOL! :hahaha: :nocrook: :laugh: :hilarious :yes:
It's the "Predator" from the movie. :D
No, it does not have any relevance concerning Baltimore, I just thought it was cool at the time and just stuck with it. :)

Thanks for the nice things you've said. But, in all fairness JeffBaltimore and others played a big part of this growth.
BTW, this site ROCKS! ssp sucks concerning Baltimore people and it's following. I wish that would change, too. :)

I am looking forward to the Port Covington development. I love the way that bridge looks from the highway and adding condos, marinas, etc. will make it a real head turner. Will probably cause accidents......

The WestPort Development will be three times as big with about 1700 homes most in tall slender towers.

I know, I can't wait to see final plans! :D :)
And, let's hope there won't be any accidents from all the "rubber-necking" that'll be going on. :D ;)

good article from the Sun this morning: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/investing/bal-bz.hancock17jul17,1,4292396.column?coll=bal-business-headlines

I

LAST SPOT ON BALTIMORES BORDWALK SLATED FOR CONDOS

I guess 300 east pratt street is back in biusness
LAST SPOT ON BALTIMORES BORDWALK SLATED FOR CONDOS

The CEO of Town in Country Trust is pushing ahead with plans to build apratments and condomimiums at 300 E.Pratt St., the last underdeveloped site site what is considered downtown Baltimore's Boardwalk real estate.
Harvey Schulweis, a player in the national real estate game, is working with the Baltimore Developmen Corp. to secure tax breaks for his latest planned project on the site he has controlled about a decade.
"We're back in active negotiations with him ," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the city's leading economic devlopment agency. Schulweis could not be reached for comment.

The developer is entitled to a payment in lieu of taxes known as PILOT on the apartment portion of the project, but not on the condomimium aspectof it, Brodie said.
It was unclear this week how big of a complex Schulweis plans to build on the lot now a surface parking lot and once home too the defunct News American newspaper
" We believe the condomimium market is far enough along that tax breaks are no longer needed," Brodie said.
Baltimore Buiness Journal

Well, I guess you guy got your wish

Baltimore has a chance to become something special over the next 3 to 5 years if most of these projects happen:

Port Covington and West Port-1,000 to 1,500 residential units proposed

Inner Harbor East- 2,000 residential units proposed

Central Business district/Inner Harbor-1,500 units proposed(Water Tower, Cityscape, 414 Light St, 300 East Pratt, Zenith, etc)

Mt Vernon, Hampden, and Charles Village- about 1,200 units proposed or under construction

Ed Hale's Canton Crossing and Greektown= 1,500 units proposed

Key Highway= 500 to 600 units proposed

Locust Point- Grain Elevator and Pulte Homes= 400 to 500 units

The above projects would add about 20,000 people to the city who have high paying jobs.


I left out East Baltimore and Reservoir Hill since it remains to be seen if you can take high crime areas and get people to live there.





I guess 300 east pratt street is back in biusness
LAST SPOT ON BALTIMORES BORDWALK SLATED FOR CONDOS

The CEO of Town in Country Trust is pushing ahead with plans to build apratments and condomimiums at 300 E.Pratt St., the last underdeveloped site site what is considered downtown Baltimore's Boardwalk real estate.
Harvey Schulweis, a player in the national real estate game, is working with the Baltimore Developmen Corp. to secure tax breaks for his latest planned project on the site he has controlled about a decade.
"We're back in active negotiations with him ," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the city's leading economic devlopment agency. Schulweis could not be reached for comment.

The developer is entitled to a payment in lieu of taxes known as PILOT on the apartment portion of the project, but not on the condomimium aspectof it, Brodie said.
It was unclear this week how big of a complex Schulweis plans to build on the lot now a surface parking lot and once home too the defunct News American newspaper
" We believe the condomimium market is far enough along that tax breaks are no longer needed," Brodie said.
Baltimore Buiness Journal

Well, I guess you guy got your wish

I guess 300 east pratt street is back in biusness
LAST SPOT ON BALTIMORES BORDWALK SLATED FOR CONDOS

The CEO of Town in Country Trust is pushing ahead with plans to build apratments and condomimiums at 300 E.Pratt St., the last underdeveloped site site what is considered downtown Baltimore's Boardwalk real estate.
Harvey Schulweis, a player in the national real estate game, is working with the Baltimore Developmen Corp. to secure tax breaks for his latest planned project on the site he has controlled about a decade.
"We're back in active negotiations with him ," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the city's leading economic devlopment agency. Schulweis could not be reached for comment.

The developer is entitled to a payment in lieu of taxes known as PILOT on the apartment portion of the project, but not on the condomimium aspectof it, Brodie said.
It was unclear this week how big of a complex Schulweis plans to build on the lot now a surface parking lot and once home too the defunct News American newspaper
" We believe the condomimium market is far enough along that tax breaks are no longer needed," Brodie said.
Baltimore Buiness Journal

Well, I guess you guy got your wish

OMG! Can this actually be true??? Well, until ground is broken, I'll still be skeptical.

The Daily Record is says that 500+ Ft tall towers could go into WestPort|Port Covington. With 1500 housing units on one development alone that could easily be three 50 story towers in WestPort. WoW. That would be awesome.
Two 15 story towers with 625 units are already proposed on the Port Covington side of the Middle Branch. I can't wait to read the enitre article on 300 East Pratt and see what the St Reigs Development is going to look like.

Awesome news!! :eek2: :eek2: :eek:

The Daily Record is says that 500+ Ft tall towers could go into WestPort|Port Covington. With 1500 housing units on one development alone that could easily be three 50 story towers in WestPort. WoW. That would be awesome.

Has this been proposed, or is it something the Daily Record is just speculating?

that's what i'd like to know.

Mayor, leaders unveil path for a historic stroll through city
Heritage Walk is designed to illustrate Baltimore history
By Jamie Stiehm
Sun Staff
Originally published July 16, 2005
The tale of Mary Pickersgill, the hardworking Baltimore seamstress who made the Star-Spangled Banner in 1814, will soon be told in signs outside her East Pratt Street house in 17 different languages.

Following in Boston's Freedom Trail footsteps, Mayor Martin O'Malley unveiled a new Heritage Walk yesterday on the Inner Harbor promenade, near the trailhead of a 5-kilometer Baltimore history lesson that will be installed over the summer.

O'Malley said the path would enable city dwellers and visitors to connect dots in a tapestry of time spanning four centuries. He also framed the trail as an exercise in building civic self-esteem.

"We have unique historic charm in our city and now, in our city, we can walk in the footsteps of Frederick Douglass," O'Malley said to a gathering outside the new Visitor Center. "People will follow a story of American history as told by the city of Baltimore."

In a nod to Baltimore's place as a waterfront immigrant destination second only to New York a century ago, the signs and narratives will be translated into 17 languages, including Yiddish, Polish, Yoruba and Gaelic.

"This was a gateway for a nation," O'Malley said, noting the early 20th-century immigration explosion. The city's resulting ethnic enclaves are one of several "significant stories" presented in the Heritage Walk, he said.

City officials said the long-planned path, which will be marked with cast-bronze trail disks, leads away from the harbor and National Aquarium to lure walkers to less-visited city sites.

Among the trail stops are the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the new Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, and the Flag House, home of the Star-Spangled Banner Museum. The 20 chosen sites also include a 1771 Society of Friends meetinghouse, the Baltimore Civil War Museum, the white St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church and the gold-domed City Hall, completed in 1875.

Tyler Gearhart, executive director for the nonprofit Preservation Maryland, said at yesterday's unveiling that Baltimore deserves a comprehensive explanation and understanding of its history. Those who walk the trail will learn, for example, how the Civil War's first skirmish happened on the streets of Baltimore.

"This will give Boston's Freedom Trail a run for its money," Gearhart said. "I think it's long overdue."

He added that Baltimore has more registered historic buildings than any other city in the nation.

Deborah Weiner, research historian for the Jewish Museum of Maryland, said museum officials are thrilled with the prospect of more visibility on the trail to attract first-time visitors.

The estimated cost of the Heritage Walk is $400,000, said Bill Pencek, director of the Baltimore City heritage area, whom O'Malley charged with the task of establishing the trail in collaboration with Historic Jonestown Inc.

A key element for public enjoyment, Pencek said, is having 10 city park rangers, already on the job at the Visitor Center, give a guided walking tour, which takes three hours. The cost is $7.50, he said.

Pencek said his ultimate goal is to appeal to the National Park Service to form a city-federal partnership in administering the trail, similar to Boston's Freedom Trail model.

The trailhead, to be placed near the Visitor Center, will be styled to resemble a sculpture and be illuminated at night, he said. "We need to start someplace," Pencek said. "Heritage Walk can be a great thing as a campaign to elevate Baltimore's national heritage stories. We know Boston tells us they have 700,000 visitors annually to the Freedom Trail."

Kirby Fowler, president of the nonprofit Downtown Partnership, said he expects the trail, which threads through streets near the Little Italy district, to improve commerce as well as culture.

"Along the way, people will stop at retail establishments and restaurants," Fowler said.

From his comments at yesterday's ceremony, O'Malley's personal favorite on the history trail seemed to be the defense of Baltimore from the British bombardment of 1814, when prisoner of war Francis Scott Key wrote the poem -- about Pickersgill's flag -- that became the national anthem.

"A lot of people don't fully appreciate what a pivotal role this city played in saving the nation," O'Malley said. "It was this close. And it shows how integrated [the city] has always been. One- fifth of the defenders were free blacks and most were immigrants. They were diverse. The lesson is, we're all in this together."

City receives three bids for old brewery campus
Proposals include a social services center, UTECH headquarters
By Eric Siegel
Sun Staff
Originally published July 17, 2005
East Baltimore's vacant American Brewery campus could become the headquarters of a Maryland nonprofit social services provider or be restored as a beer-making facility targeting the Hispanic market under two proposals received by the city for the property.
A third proposal by a Baltimore-based underground utility company offers to turn a bottling plant on the 2-acre city-owned site in the 1700 block of N. Gay St. into the company's headquarters. But the company said it is not interested in the 19th-century brewhouse that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Two months ago, the city issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the site, which has been vacant since the early 1970s and is in one of the most blighted areas of Baltimore. The deadline for responses was last week.

"Given the level of interest, we were hoping for more proposals," said Ted Laster, real estate supervisor with the city's housing department. But he added, "It's a big project, it's a complicated project."

Laster said the department would set up a review panel and schedule a community meeting to present the plans. An award of a six-month exclusive negotiating privilege for the property could be made as early as September, assuming that at least one of the offers is deemed acceptable, he said.

The most extensive proposal was made by the American Brewery LLC, a partnership of well-known Baltimore developer Streuver Bros., Eccles & Rouse; minority builder Gotham Development; and Humanim Inc.

According to the proposal, the towering red-brick brewhouse building would be renovated into offices for Columbia-based Humanim, which provides vocational, mental health and other services to children and adults with developmental disabilities. The proposal said the nonprofit would relocate 250 staffers to the brewery site and hire an additional 60 workers.

The proposal said that nearly half the anticipated $17 million cost of the project would come from state and federal historic tax credits and that Humanim would be responsible for raising $4 million to $5 million, including $1.6 million in state money already approved. The developer said it wanted to pay $1 for the property.

Streuver Bros. has redeveloped several vacant commercial properties around the city, including Tide Point in Locust Point and The American Can Co. in Canton, and it was involved in a failed attempt to redevelop the American Brewery site in the 1990s. The company was also the general contractor for a senior citizens housing complex that opened in 2003 at the site of the former brewmaster's house across North Gay Street from the brewery campus.

New York-based Oakmar Resources & Associates proposed a $10 million plan to "restore the brewery back to its operating levels" and said by the end of its first year of operation it anticipated producing 160,000 bottles of beer a month targeted to the Hispanic market in the United States. It promises to partner with an African brewery based in Sierra Leone.

The proposal described Oakmar as a real estate financing and development firm founded in 1997, and said it would provide information on its development experience later. Andrew Schwab, an attorney listed as a contact, described Oakmar as a "minority-controlled company" whose principals had "considerable development experience" but said he was not authorized to be more specific.

UTECH, the Baltimore-based firm that lays cable infrastructure and site utilities, said it was interested "solely in the former bottling plant." It said it would spend $1.5 million to turn the building into its corporate headquarters, including the purchase price of $265,266.

Hey guys, I've a couple of things I'd like to ask.
First, with all the new housing going on in Baltimore I would love to see two things happen. Please don't laugh to hard. :D
I'd like to see a new neighborhood, probably more towards the outer parts of the city, consisting of houses that would be built like San Francisco's victorian houses. That would trip out allot of people to ride thru town and come upon this neighborhood consisting of about 3 to 5 blocks long by 3 to 5 blocks wide. Yes? No? :D
Finally, and this is really wild, and I don't know if there would be anywhere in the city to do this AND if the city would allow it, BUT, create a neighborhood called, "Art House District". Stay with me now, this is where it get's wild. :D
Eash house would be shaped and/or designed like different things like a hat, coffee cup, baseball, human body, animal of some kind, banana, etc., (but functions perfectly,) you get the drift. The place would be perhaps 5 blocks long by 5 blocks wide. I guess it would be one of a kind and would draw allot more people to come see them. It would back up that old John Waters quirkiness that Baltimore is sometimes associated with. :D
yes? no? Go easy. please. GULP! :runaway:

Wow. I've been without internet access for three days, and I come back to all of a sudden hear that Baltimore has hopes of now getting one, two, three, who knows how many new tallests. Great news. Amazing how fast things can change.

But yeah, I enjoyed reading that article, which is why I posted it. It also made me realize that StevenW is the same person I used to talk to about Baltimore on these forums three or four years ago (only under a different name). I thought I recognized that intense passion for a new Baltimore tallest.....

As for your Art House District Idea, it is certainly very interesting. It would no doubt be a draw to both tourists and residents. I, myself wouldn't want to live in a shoe, but I'm sure the properties would have no trouble selling out. The funny thing is that, assuming the architecture is sound, it would most undoubtedly be a success, but it is so far out there that most likely no one would ever try it. A place like that would definitely be more accepted and more fitting to Baltimore than almost any other place though.

Also, while I was digging through those archives I found myself as saying, over three years ago - "I think this headquarter hotel issue will be sorted out before the end of the year." I was way off.....

Hey guys, I've a couple of things I'd like to ask.
First, with all the new housing going on in Baltimore I would love to see two things happen. Please don't laugh to hard. :D
I'd like to see a new neighborhood, probably more towards the outer parts of the city, consisting of houses that would be built like San Francisco's victorian houses. That would trip out allot of people to ride thru town and come upon this neighborhood consisting of about 3 to 5 blocks long by 3 to 5 blocks wide. Yes? No? :D
Finally, and this is really wild, and I don't know if there would be anywhere in the city to do this AND if the city would allow it, BUT, create a neighborhood called, "Art House District". Stay with me now, this is where it get's wild. :D
Eash house would be shaped and/or designed like different things like a hat, coffee cup, baseball, human body, animal of some kind, banana, etc., (but functions perfectly,) you get the drift. The place would be perhaps 5 blocks long by 5 blocks wide. I guess it would be one of a kind and would draw allot more people to come see them. It would back up that old John Waters quirkiness that Baltimore is sometimes associated with. :D
yes? no? Go easy. please. GULP! :runaway:

OMG! Well, at least nobody will ever say that you lack imagination!!

The WestPort Development will be three times as big with about 1700 homes most in tall slender towers.


Where did you hear this and where did you read about the 300 East Pratt Article

OMG! Well, at least nobody will ever say that you lack imagination!!

LOL!

I have a question was the rendering of 300 east pratt street the one without the condo addition ?

Yes. That old rendering, (the one with the brick look to it with setbacks), was just apartments on top of a ten story garage and ground floor retail. I guess with about 50 or 60 condo added to the mix, we could probably end up with a 40 to 42 story tower close to 500 ft. tall. Maybe a bit taller. Unless some major additions for more units are added then I think that the tower probably won't be a new tallest at all.

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6300_e__pratt-thumb.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/6slcepropelev-thumb.jpg

Amtrak Acela getting back on track
Barton Eckert
Contributor
With repairs being made, Amtrak says it will run four Acela high-speed round trips between Washington and New York beginning Monday, doubling the service that resumed this week.

Acela trains, idled almost three months by cracks in a brake part, will also begin seven-day-a-week service on Saturday. Amtrak was running 15 round trips between New York and Washington and 11 between New York and Boston before Acela service was stopped April 15. Halting the Acela trains, which can run 150 mph, cut Amtrak's revenue by about $1 million a week.

Amtrak was forced to replace all its plush Acela trains with 1960s-era Metroliners. Two of 11 Acela trains were replaced with Metroliners between New York and Boston. Amtrak isn't saying when Acela service will resume to and from Boston.

The only thing I heard about the redesign of 300 East Pratt after adding the condo's is that the building would be 35 or 36 floors. That was like over 6 months ago.

Well, unless there's this amazing 200 ft. tall crown............. :D
I'd say 420 ft. at best.

An interesting article about the changes being seen in SoWeBo. I don't venture into BMore too often, but do the rest of you find that change is really as rapid as the media portrays it or do you think it's going a little slower? I'm curious, since it just seems like so much is being done to fix things. :)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-to.kelly16jul16,1,3305896.column?coll=bal-realestate-headlines-1

hey thats my neighborhood! woot!
I live on Scott directly across from those nice (and pricey) Camden Crossing townhomes. :)

Ok, this article came out while the forum was down and I think it needs to be discussed. Frankly it made me quite angry to hear that Robert Johnson, whose hotel is being built in Baltimore, despite the fact that he is contributing absolutely nothing monitarily to the deal and in fact is being paid a fee by the city for his "expertise" in the field, is willing to fully fund a convention hotel in DC. I think this should hopefully be the deal breaker on this hotel. I think his timing on this couldn't have been worse and hopefully the city will allow Hackerman the chance to build his tower.
What do you think?

D.C.'s hotel deal raises ire in Baltimore
Billionaire, Marriott offer private financing in plan; Some council members upset
By Jill Rosen
Sun Staff
Originally published July 15, 2005

As Baltimore development officials insist public financing is the only way for the city to get a convention center hotel, a prominent entrepreneur and a major hotel chain have an entirely different idea for a convention center hotel just down Interstate 95.

Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson and Marriott International's proposal to privately finance a $400 million convention center hotel in Washington raises new questions for some about plans to publicly finance a $305 million equivalent in Baltimore.

In Baltimore, City Council members have repeatedly heard from development officials and Mayor Martin O'Malley that a hotel deal with private money is all but impossible. So they were flabbergasted yesterday to learn of Johnson's offer as they consider the Baltimore project, which the billionaire is helping to develop.

"He apparently has equity," Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said of Johnson. "Why can it not be spent in Baltimore?"

And Councilman James B. Kraft, a vocal opponent of the hotel plan, said the news only reinforced his doubts about the city's going into the hotel business.

"Sometime 18 months ago, BDC made a decision that the only way this could be done was public financing," he said. "They pretty much gave up trying to find private financing, and now they're boxed in."

But BDC President M.J. "Jay" Brodie said it was too soon to jump to conclusions about the Washington proposal.

"This is very preliminary," he said. "There would be significant public subsidies involved - it's impossible to guess how much."

Like Baltimore, Washington has long sought a headquarters hotel to complement its convention center. And like Baltimore, district officials say that without one, its new $834 million convention center will falter.

District officials have wrestled for years trying to figure out where and how to build.

However, while Baltimore decided that public financing was the only viable option, Washington officials, who also favor a public deal, have kept the door open for private investment.

Washington's director of development, Stephen Green, said Marriott and Johnson's proposal would be taken seriously.

"We've always said if a private deal makes sense, we would look at it," he said. "We're not sure yet if we have a private deal that makes sense."

Marriott and Johnson have not provided the district with many details about their offer. They did, however, express an interest in tax breaks.

On a 1,200-plus room hotel, that would be a significant amount of money. "It amounts to millions of dollars," Green said.

Johnson did not return phone messages yesterday.

O'Malley and the BDC, backed by tourism officials and union leaders, are pushing for Baltimore to issue $305 million in revenue bonds to build a 752-room Hilton.

Officials intend for the hotel to eventually pay for itself. However, in the event of a shortfall, the city would turn to the hotel's property tax, then its occupancy tax. A last resort would be money from the citywide hotel occupancy tax.

Hilton has pledged $25 million should the city need a bailout, but that's a loan that the city would have to repay with interest.

An attribute of public financing that outweighs the risk, hotel advocates say, is how it enables Baltimore to glean profits from the project.

Brodie said he has yet to see a deal with private investment that rivals the public one he's worked out with Hilton and Johnson.

"They were not viable deals," Brodie said of rejected bids for the hotel that involved private investment combined with public subsides. "Our conclusion was it was not acceptable."

In 2002, Johnson presented Baltimore with an unsolicited proposal to build a convention center Hilton adjacent to the downtown convention center - and he asked for public assistance to make it happen.

While city leaders initially greeted the proposition with open arms, ultimately the BDC decided that rather than give someone incentives to build the hotel, it would go it alone.

O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory said yesterday that Johnson's overture to Washington sounded like the deals Baltimore has already bypassed from him and others.

"This may not be any different than other deals that have been rejected by Baltimore and other cities as too costly to taxpayers," she said.

Councilman Robert W. Curran, who supports a publicly financed hotel largely because of the chance for city profit, doubts the Washington deal is as good as it sounds.

"I really need to see what he's asking for," Curran said. If tax breaks or public money are on the table, "what advantage is that?"

Downtown Partnership President Kirby Fowler also suspected that Johnson's deal has unannounced strings attached.

"A lot of times they come in saying no assistance is needed and then when it's worked out, assistance is needed," he said.

Clarke said she didn't buy the argument that the city should invest in the hotel in order to reap the profits.

"Government is not a business," she said. "The whole argument of getting into profit-sharing is somewhat unseemly. They're putting public money at risk to do so."

Risk and reward equations occupy the minds of Washington officials considering their hotel, Green said.

"If you're comfortable with the risk, the public financing is a better transaction. But how do you segregate the risk?" he said.

"The Brodie proposal is probably a smart way to do it, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to do it."

repost:Last spot on Baltimore's 'Boardwalk' slated for condos
Heather Harlan
Staff
The CEO of Town and Country Trust is pushing ahead with plans to build apartments and condominiums at 300 E. Pratt St., the last undeveloped site along what is considered downtown Baltimore's "Boardwalk" real estate.

Harvey Schulweis, a player in the national real estate game, is working with the Baltimore Development Corp. to secure tax breaks for his latest planned project on the site he has controlled for about a decade.

"We're back in active negotiations with him,'' said M.J. "Jay'' Brodie, president of the city's leading economic development agency. Schulweis could not be reached for comment.

The developer is entitled to a payment in lieu of taxes -- known as a PILOT -- on the apartment portion of the project, but not the condominium aspect of it, Brodie said. It was unclear this week how big of a complex Schulweis plans to build on the lot -- now a surface parking lot and once home to the defunct News American newspaper.

"We believe the condominium market is far enough along that tax breaks are no longer needed,'' Brodie said.

Never considered a city of condominiums, Baltimore is now blanketed with buildings or half-constructed buildings that will contain the pricey residential units. All around the harbor, Ritz-Carlton, Bozzuto Homes Inc. and now Four Seasons are testing the condo concept. St. Regis is also thinking of jumping into the game.

Thomas "Toby" S. Bozzuto Jr., assistant vice president for Bozzuto Development Co., said two of the condo units at Spinnaker Bay at Harbor East went for more than $2 million each. And, the Ritz-Carlton is asking more than $5 million for its penthouse units -- an unprecedented figure in a city that has shunned condo living in the past.

In 2001, Schulweis planned to build apartments -- rather than condos -- at 300 E. Pratt St. and was able to land approval for a PILOT. Those tax breaks, however, were never finalized, and Schulweis' plans were scrapped due to conservative investors in a down-turning economy.

That represented Schulweis' second chance at tax breaks. In 1999, the developer asked the city for incentives on a project planned for the same site. Then, Schulweis had designs to build a 600-room hotel that would have been adjacent to the Renaissance Harborplace.

Brodie said Schulweis re-ignited conversations with the Baltimore Development Corp. last fall. The move came after Schulweis bought out one of his investment partners, Brodie said.

In recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Town and Country, a real estate investment trust specializing in apartment communities, expressed its interest in expansion.

"The company seeks to acquire additional apartments in certain of its existing markets, particularly in the Greater Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metropolitan areas and in Florida,'' according to documents filed in May. "The company is also interested in pursuing multifamily investment opportunities in other 'high barrier to entry' markets within its operating region."

It was unclear this week whether the latest plan to build condos and apartments will move ahead under Town and Country, or Schulweis' own development efforts.
------------------------------------------------------------------


BTW, Jayson, that article above bothers me, too.

Today's article: http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/18/story7.html

Notice the, "Marquee" statement. lol.

Cleanup OK'd for Turner site:
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/18/newscolumn2.html

As state delays allotment of historic tax credits, city fears projects' fate:


http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/18/tidbits1.html

Best Buy's hunt shows promise for retail revival
Ten years ago, a story in the Baltimore Business Journal saying Best Buy is considering downtown for a new store would have readers questioning our sanity.

That just shows how far downtown has come over the past decade. As we reported last week, the consumer electronics chain confirmed that downtown Baltimore is high on its list.

The biggest reason for the renewed interest is a surge in downtown residents, fueled by a boom in condominium and apartment development. For the first time in decades, the demographics of the central city make sense to numbers-oriented retailers.

This is good news for the future of Baltimore. Presumably, more people will want to live downtown and more businesses will want to locate downtown if a vibrant retail environment exists. Typically, when one chain seeks out a spot, the others will follow.

Baltimore has a lot to offer, and we're glad the national chains are starting to notice.

This indeed are the headlines from the Maryland Daily Record:


Plan could allow 500-foot skyscrapers on shores of Patapsco’s Middle Branch in South Baltimore
If Baltimore planners’ draft development guidelines for the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River come to fruition, the west banks of the 450-acre estuary could see skyscrapers as high as the tallest downtown building.

-JEN DEGREGORIO


-------------------------------------------

Boy oh Boy, I'd love to read the rest! :D

Has this been proposed, or is it something the Daily Record is just speculating?

I have a feeling its what the planed unit development (PUD) will allow. A PUD is sort of like spot zoning and that will give the developers the felixibility to build up to 500 feet. Sort of like harborvew's pud, but they only took advantage of the full height once. The market will dictate.

On the right track?
Streetcars have spurred development in some cities, but funding remains stumbling block
Jared Favole
Staff

In Charlotte, some refer to it as "Charlotte's Folly." In Tampa Bay, some call it the "streetcar named deficit." In Portland, however, it's just called the streetcar system because of the roughly $1.5 billion in economic development it helped spur.

Baltimore is toying with the idea of bringing the rumbling cars back to the streets and finding the right mix of federal, state and local funds to get the trolleys rolling. Funding the streetcar projects for the short term doesn't seem a challenge -- with federal money available for construction -- but operating them in the long term can be a stumbling block, according to other cities that have tried to bring the cars back.

The Charles Street Development Corp., a nonprofit charged with spurring development along the Charles Street corridor, is studying whether a streetcar is economically feasible. A study it released in June by transportation consultant Kittelson & Associates recommended a 7.5-mile fixed-rail system that would connect the Inner Harbor and Johns Hopkins University, stopping at such attractions as the Baltimore Museum of Art and Lyric Opera House.

Officials in cities where trolleys have sprung recently, including Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., and Tampa Bay, Fla., said financing the streetcars' construction wasn't too challenging. But funding the annual operations takes a bit of wrangling and a concoction of state, private and local funds.

"With transit projects it isn't the capital funding, it's the operational funding ... that was the stumbling block here," said Ed Crawford, a spokesman for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, which operates a 2.4-mile track that connects downtown Tampa with historic Ybor City.

Tampa's streetcar system, which runs independent of traffic, cost about $56 million to build and roughly $2.5 million to operate in 2004. The initial project was funded by federal bonds backed by the city -- meaning if the trolley system fails, the city has to pony up.

Crawford said the project faced "plenty of hurdles," including waiting for an uninterested mayor to leave office. It took about 10 years since the trolleys were considered until they started service. "Our biggest stumbling block was the mayor," he said.

Now that the project is creeping up to its third year in operation, Crawford said funding the annual costs is getting more daunting.

A Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant -- a federal program that provides money to transportation systems that contribute to air quality -- that provided about $665,000 toward operations last year is set to run out at the end of the year. Port Authority money that added about $200,000 to help pay operating costs in 2004 could run out soon, Crawford said.

And because the trolley crosses the tracks of a major train company, he said the system had to pay that company about $874,000 last year for a flagman and an insurance policy, and that could increase next year.

Crawford added, however, that a $4 million endowment fund set up at the trolley's inception could finance it for about the next 10 years. Also, a trolley-friendly councilman is working to eliminate a property-tax exemption for about 6,000 homes within the trolley corridor that Crawford said would be "a huge generator of income."

The exemption was put in place years ago because the city didn't want to tax the poor and elderly to pay for redevelopment. But now development is rolling and those same elderly and poor are watching their property values rise because of the trolley, Crawford said.

Sales of naming rights for the stations for 10 years at $100,000 help bring in money -- four are still available. Taxes collected from properties within the area that benefit from the trolley -- anything within several street blocks -- contributed about $319,000, or 17 percent of total revenues for 2004.

Officials in cities already with trolley systems, or studying whether it is possible, say the streetcars become a stand-alone attraction and help give the city a sense of place.

"One great thing about these trolley systems is they add a dynamic element to the street," said Terry Shook, president of Charlotte Trolley Inc., a nonprofit that originally worked with getting its two-mile system up and running. Ridership of Charlotte's system eclipsed 250,000 in early June -- ridership was projected to reach only 100,000 last year. Still, some detractors don't want the city to put money into something that doesn't pay for itself.

"We still have naysayers who say it's 'Charlotte's folly,'" Shook said.

Fares for the system generated revenues of about $122,000. The city's transit authority, called CATS, will cover a $1.08 million deficit this year for the streetcar system.

In 1998, the city allocated about $16.7 million to create the two-mile system through Uptown Charlotte and the Historic South End. The city is preparing to offer light-rail transit on the lines beginning in 2006.

Along the South End corridor where the trolley runs, more than $400 million in private funds have been invested in development and property values have increased nearly 90 percent since 2000, according to the transit authority's Web site.

A study commissioned by the Charles Street Development Corp. estimates that a 7.5-mile fixed-rail streetcar would cost Baltimore about $150 million to construct and about $4.1 million to $4.6 million in annual operating costs. Their study was modeled after Portland's streetcar system.

Kay Dannen, a spokeswoman for Portland Streetcar Inc., which runs the streetcar system, said since the trolley began running in 1999 the city has seen $1.5 billion in economic development. Through the nearly nine-year process to get the trolley running, she learned that money and track alignment play a big role in the success or failure of an operation.

"It's always money and it's always alignment," she said. "Anywhere you can find them. I mean there wasn't an idea that wasn't investigated."

Rebecca Gagalis, executive director of the Charles Street group, has said the group would decide within the next several months whether a fixed-rail system would be the best way to spur development.

The development group is also looking into a rubber-wheel option. Gagalis said previously they would lobby for support from the community and city and state officials. She declined comment for this article because the group is still studying the project.

Mayor Martin O'Malley said he wants to travel to Portland to look at their streetcar system. Because the project is still in the development stages, he couldn't comment on whether the city would provide funding. But he added: "We've got to find some better way to get people around downtown."

Alfred Foxx, director of the city's department of transportation, and Otis Rolley, director of the city's planning department, traveled to Portland to see the streetcar system.

"We're open to the idea," Foxx said. "I thought the way they laid out their streetcar was outstanding, and they did an excellent job at convincing developers to build around there."

Foxx did caution, however, that there were some differences between Baltimore and Portland. He said the Oregon city's streets are wider. Also, their buses and light-rail system work in coordination with the trolleys.

"It's something we will take a look at and see if it can suit the environment here," Foxx said

[QUOTE=jaysonjaz]Ok, this article came out while the forum was down and I think it needs to be discussed. Frankly it made me quite angry to hear that Robert Johnson, whose hotel is being built in Baltimore, despite the fact that he is contributing absolutely nothing monitarily to the deal and in fact is being paid a fee by the city for his "expertise" in the field, is willing to fully fund a convention hotel in DC. I think this should hopefully be the deal breaker on this hotel. I think his timing on this couldn't have been worse and hopefully the city will allow Hackerman the chance to build his tower.
What do you think?

I totally agree with you; the timing couldn't be worse or more appropriate (depending on what side of the fence you sit on). If Johnson were a politician, this would be the blunder that hammers the nail in the coffin. One of the headlines that ran observed Council members as being "aghast"...

On the flip side of the coin, one could argue DC and Baltimore are truly two different markets, and that while DC can go it alone, Baltimore needs help to get this hotel built.

As skeptics have asked time and again, if Baltimore is truly a hot tourist Mecca in need of a convention hotel, what is holding the private sector from satisfying this demand?

Hey, I'm not sure how old this article is, but it's from UrbaniteBaltimore.com

Neighborhoods: Last Waterfront

By Joan Jacobson

The Patapsco River has been good to Baltimore’s renaissance. It gave the city a reason to rebuild the Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Canton, Locust Point and Inner Harbor East.

Now, the river that natives call the “Pat-aps-i-co” has one last frontier to offer the Baltimore revival. It is the most convenient of places for commuters and downtown workers to live—but the least likely place to imagine new development.

You can find it driving south on Hanover Street over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge. Look off to the right. There it is—the river’s Middle Branch, a near-rectangular body of water, scarred by a stunning array of abandoned industrial buildings bordering some of the city’s poorest communities.
Cherry Hill. Westport. Mount Winans. Lakeland. Names associated for decades with poverty and decay.

Not names mentioned in the same breath with words like “upscale,” or “luxury.” Or with a price tag of $400,000 for a townhouse.

Until now.

Developers, lured by a blank slate (after the old industrial buildings and a hillside of trees are removed), see potential for residential and commercial development just blocks from the I-95 and 295 ramps, walking distance to the light rail, and a few-minutes drive to downtown.

Above a hillside overlooking Middle Branch Park and the Baltimore Rowing Club, developer A. Rod Womack is planning a $35 million project called Waterview Overlook with 40 luxury townhouses and 65 condominiums. Womack’s Consolidated Investment & Management Group hopes to complete the project by 2006. It will include a tennis court, pool, fitness center and a clubhouse, he says.

On eighteen acres along the river’s western shore, the former factory of the Carr-Lowrey Glass Company will be torn down and replaced with a residential and commercial development, says developer Patrick Turner of Henrietta Development Corporation. Details of the project, located steps way from the Westport light rail stop, have yet to be finalized, he says.

Just north of the 115-year-old glass factory, two enormous abandoned Baltimore Gas and Electric Buildings are up for sale, says Keith Cunningham, spokesman for Constellation Energy, which oversees the properties.

And at the north side of the bridge, the National Aquarium is planning a Center for Aquatic Life and Conservation on nineteen acres that will include a garage renovated into an environmentally “green” building where sick animals will receive care, an education center, plus restored wetlands and a park. The project will begin in 2006.

“We love the idea of being part of another waterfront renovation in the city,” says Molly Foyle, the Aquarium’s director of media relations.

Unlike investors of Fells Point or Federal Hill, who three decades ago used the famous historic names to lure high prices for homes and businesses (and unofficially expanded their boundaries to increase real estate prices), developers of the Middle Branch want to exploit the waterfront convenience, but not the community names that carry the negative connotations of an impoverished city.

So they have come up with a new, unofficial (and somewhat controversial) name—Inner Harbor West.

The name has already been purchased as an Internet domain name (innerharborwest.com), though a website has yet to be built.

Womack admits he was wary of building in Cherry Hill at first. But that was before he saw the land he would eventually purchase—and before he met Cherry Hill leaders who are working to turn the neighborhood around.

He said he told a friend, “I don’t know if Cherry Hill has come far enough to do this deal. Then I walked up on one of those hills.” Once he saw the view of the water and downtown, “It hit me. I saw the potential.”

He’s been working closely with the Cherry Hill community and doesn’t want any negative neighborhood image to reflect on his project.

“I don’t even want to attach the notion of a stigma. They have done a tremendous job to turn the neighborhood around.”

Cathy McClain, executive director of Cherry Hill 2000, an umbrella group of community groups, institutions and businesses, says her group supports Womack’s development.

“Rod was very good in coming to us to tell us what he was planning. We’re pleased he’s bringing an expensive product to Cherry Hill to improve the economic picture for the whole neighborhood,” she says, yet adding that she is concerned with protecting older homeowners from being forced out by rising property taxes.

The residents of Cherry Hill, she says, have worked hard to reduce crime and build affordable housing in a neighborhood that was burdened with an absurdly high concentration of public housing—1,500 units at one time.

Nevertheless, she said she understands Womack’s reluctance to market the homes with the neighborhood’s name.

“If you call it Cherry Hill people would not come. I understand that,” she says.
Less than a mile away, on the Western bank of the river, three other communities—Mount Winans, Westport and Lakeland—work to reduce crime, help residents pay utility bills and promote homeownership. Their community umbrella group is located two blocks from the waterfront, on a shabby, gap-toothed stretch of Annapolis Road. The group, Project TOOUR (Teaching Our Own Understanding and Responsibility), has its office in a boarded storefront protected by a rusty security gate, with the entrance on the side.

TOOUR’s executive director, Linda Towe, hopes the new development will help revive her neighborhood.

“Once that waterfront is developed, it’s going to have a ripple effect,” Towe says, though she too is concerned about rising property taxes for older homeowners.

But she doesn’t like the idea of renaming the community “Inner Harbor West.”

“They didn’t change Canton’s name. They didn’t change Federal Hill’s name. Westport and Cherry Hill should be able to keep their names. If people knew it as Westport for worse, they should know it as Westport for the better,” she says.

Long-time Westport resident and activist Elizabeth Arnold also supports the development, but is wary.

“You want to see improvement in the city, but you don’t want to be run out,” she says.

The city’s planning department is taking steps to protect the old neighborhoods, making sure a master plan preserves public views of the water and keeps tall buildings away from nearby rowhouses.

The city also hopes to make the waterfront more accessible to people in Westport, who have been cut off from the shoreline by industrial property.

“We’re using the powers we have to protect the community and make sure there is affordable housing and economic diversity,” says City Planning Director Otis Rolley.

With all the talk about redeveloping the Middle Branch, the waterfront neighborhood—whatever you call it—is still pretty quiet these days.

Along Middle Branch Park, the city’s Baltimore Rowing Club and Water Resource Center sits alone on the bank, looking just as out of place as it did when it was built in 1986—a monument to one of the most peculiar brainchilds of the mayoral administration of William Donald Schaefer.

Sculling, after all, was never the pastime of neighbors struggling to find work and decent housing.

But soon, the boathouse could finally have compatible neighbors.

“At long last,” says Cherry Hill’s Cathy McClain with a smile, “It was a project before its time.”

Greetings everyone!!!!!!!!!! Someone earlier mentioned Hackerman building a hotel next to the Sheraton. How much truth is there to that being that there's a MAJOR hassle with the Convention Center hotel which would be built literally 2 blocks from the proposed hackerman site? If both sites are built, the skyline would look SUPER, but I have a concern of whether Baltimore can fill those two hotels easily. I mean, i think our convention tourism is good, but i still have my doubts.

Greetings everyone!!!!!!!!!! Someone earlier mentioned Hackerman building a hotel next to the Sheraton. How much truth is there to that being that there's a MAJOR hassle with the Convention Center hotel which would be built literally 2 blocks from the proposed hackerman site? If both sites are built, the skyline would look SUPER, but I have a concern of whether Baltimore can fill those two hotels easily. I mean, i think our convention tourism is good, but i still have my doubts.

None of us are looking to have both hotels built. What we are all hoping is that the city will come to its senses, kick the current proposal to the curb and choose Hackerman's project instead. I think we are all in agreement that the Hackerman project is the better of the two in every aspect.

BTW, Welcome!

Any new renderings on the future "Superblock?" I hear it's gonna' be a dynamite project that's going to bring 300+ homes to the downtown business district plus tons of retail and shops.

Any new renderings on the future "Superblock?" I hear it's gonna' be a dynamite project that's going to bring 300+ homes to the downtown business district plus tons of retail and shops.

I don't believe I've seen renderings for the Superblock, but I too am very excited about this project!

Here's a couple old articles on the superblock.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2004/03/01/daily17.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2003/11/10/newscolumn1.html

Welcome, MasonsInquiries. I do believe there are several SuperBlock renderings in existence, but I can't think of where to find them right now. I'll look though.

Also, I agree that the Hackerman project is by far the better one. If progress continues as it has, I think Baltimore may be able to support both hotels by the time this is all sorted out and the projects are built (especially if the McCormick site is not used for a St. Regis). If all this hype turns out to be true, one thing is sure, there aren't enough projects in the pipelines to accomodate the growth.

Course I guess that depends on what kind of growth we are expecting here. Realistically, do you guys think Baltimore will experience a slow rebuilding growth - one that puts Baltimore growth numbers back on the positive side, but nothing that turns Baltimore into one of the world's premier cities, or are we expecting the type of growth which is present in places like Miami where the cranes outnumber the people and the boundaries seem limitless?

Hey, I'm not sure how old this article is, but it's from UrbaniteBaltimore.com

I think I posted that a while ago, but I agree that the westport development is very exciting. I've said to my wife for years now that if I had several million dollars, I would invest in that area. I think it has a lot of the same potential as the inner harbor.

BTW: Everyone should pay good attention to what Urbanite has to say. The magazine is financed by William Struever and its editor has been his girlfriend for the past five years. Therefore they might have some insight that other publications don't have.
Here the article where I got that information
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=10130

In other news, I believe this has the potential to be a big factor in Baltimore growth in the future. By the time it gets built, the Baltimore metro will be much closer in distance to the Bay Bridge, but also it has the potential to take dollars away from the Baltimore Regional Rail Plan, as they are both MTA and both billion dollar projects.

Md. panel begins look at another bay bridge
Plans are in earliest stage, but opposition heating up
By Chris Guy
Sun Staff
Originally published July 18, 2005
There is no good place to build a new Chesapeake Bay bridge, no place that won't cost billions, no place that won't take 20 years to plan and construct, no place that won't prompt a tooth-and-nails battle with nearby residents, slow-growth forces and environmentalists.

But leaving things the way they are with one crossing would make current rush-hour tie-ups seem like child's play, and weekend backups could routinely stretch 12 miles in the doomsday gridlock predicted by traffic experts, who foresee more than a 40 percent increase in the number of vehicles using the existing bridge by 2025.

More than a half-century since the Bay Bridge spanned the Chesapeake and 30 years after its three-lane twin spurred a quickening march to and from the Eastern Shore, a 19-member state task force is taking tentative steps to find another crossing.

"All I know is that it's complicated, expensive and controversial," said O. James Lighthizer, a former state transportation secretary who co-chairs the task force. "There is no easy answer, and we aren't going to see any decision for years."

State planners say Maryland's population will increase by more than 1 million in the next 20 years, and that would mean 135,000 vehicles on a summer weekend day instead of the 95,000 that now cross on a Saturday or Sunday in the summer, according to the task force.

To exacerbate the current traffic nightmare, a complete re-decking of the 53-year-old eastbound span, the "old bridge," is due sometime in the next 15 to 20 years -- a prospect that chills the hearts of travelers and commuters who have endured construction delays on the 1973-vintage westbound span since 2002.

Panel members, a geographically balanced cross-section of state and local lawmakers from bay-front counties who were appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. last winter, say they're surprised how quickly the issue of a new bridge has stirred opposition.

"We are taking baby steps in what is going to be a marathon process before anybody is even making recommendations on this," said state Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a Republican who represents Queen Anne's and Kent counties, two locations mentioned as possible bridge sites. "We are not even remotely ready for a decision. We're to gather information and then put together a report."

Members say the panel isn't even charged with picking a site or determining how best to make a crossing (although most are apparently ruling out a tunnel as too expensive and ferries because they couldn't haul enough cars).

Four broad zones

The starting points of discussion, however, are focused on four broad zones that divide the upper bay and include Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, as well as their Eastern Shore counterparts, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot and Dorchester.

To transportation planners, those look like a baseline for state officials who eventually will have to choose a site. To residents in counties that could be affected, the diagrams seem to be aimed at them.

In Kent County, Chestertown Mayor Margo Bailey began making a stink when she heard that Kent County was included in the northernmost bay zone. She has already started distributing an incendiary petition that says state officials are considering a "massive bridge and interstate-like corridor ... the biggest threat in the 363-year history of our county."

"This is one issue where you'll see people join hands and stand in opposition," she said. "This county's united because this would destroy our historic district, destroy farmland and rip apart the fabric of our community." Bailey is planning a Web site and arranging a bus trip to Annapolis on Aug. 10 for the task force's next meeting.

Some task force members are already saying that Kent County is an unlikely choice for a new bridge because of the cost of building an 18-mile road at $50 million to $100 million a mile between the bay and U.S. 301.

'Chicken Little award'



Republican Del. Richard A. Sossi -- who represents Kent County as well as Kent Island, where the current 4.35-mile spans make life difficult for him and constituents who live on the island -- says jokingly that he plans to nominate Bailey for a state "Chicken Little, the sky is falling, award."

"I just do not see anything more for Kent Island," said Sossi, who has lived there for 30 years as traffic gradually increased to the point where islanders are left virtually housebound on weekends. "You can't put 20 pounds of feathers in a 10-pound bag."

Sossi says the alternative is to build somewhere south of the current bridge, which links Sandy Point and Kent Island, a choice that he says could siphon traffic from Southern Maryland, the Washington suburbs and Northern Virginia. That leaves zones 3 and 4, which include Talbot and Dorchester counties on the Eastern Shore and Anne Arundel and Calvert counties on the west side of the bay.

Most local and state officials scoff at the notion of a towering span looming over upscale Talbot County, where multimillion-dollar mansions line nearly 600 miles of shoreline.

Any landing in Dorchester would present its own problems: The Eastern Shore's largest county has huge tracts of wetlands, including the more than 27,000-acre Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

"There's no reason to get people in a panic," said Talbot County Councilman Philip Carey Foster. "Look at a map. I wouldn't favor it, even if I didn't live in Talbot. It's just stupid."

Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, a Republican who represents Calvert and St. Mary's counties, says residents want no part of any bay crossing.

"My constituents are convinced it would destroy Calvert County," O'Donnell said. "Any place you look, you're talking about an enormous amount of money for local infrastructure, upgrades on roads and everything else. And anywhere you'd build would substantially change land-use patterns on both sides of the bay."

Environmentalists such as Dru Schmidt-Perkins of 1000 Friends of Maryland have barely begun to look at the issue. Still, they worry that any new bridge will generate a new round of development in rural areas that are ill-equipped to handle it.

The state's Reach the Beach campaign of the late 1980s, a series of road improvements aimed at speeding the trip to Ocean City, clearly shows the unintended impact of improving access to the Eastern Shore, she says.

"Any [additional] crossing, north or south, and there will be an explosion of growth, beyond what we're already seeing on the Shore, on both sides of the bay," Schmidt-Perkins said. "This is a long way from happening, but it would not reduce traffic anywhere. It would increase traffic."

Realistically, do you guys think Baltimore will experience a slow rebuilding growth - one that puts Baltimore growth numbers back on the positive side, but nothing that turns Baltimore into one of the world's premier cities, or are we expecting the type of growth which is present in places like Miami where the cranes outnumber the people and the boundaries seem limitless?

So far, I think we're still on the negative as far as growth goes, but the decline is down to a trickle (I've heard as low as 30 a month.) I'm hoping the 2005 estimates will show an increase finally. It will increase sonner or later, so the 1990s are hopefully over by now. With much luck, we could see the population back to 650,000 by 2010. Rebuilding is slow and rapid at the same time. A neighborhood will have over 1000 homes, but 100 of them are being treated. It seems like a lot, yet it's not enough.

I'm really optimistic about this biotech park going up in the Middle East area. I'm amazed by the potential. 6000 new jobs focused on all wealth levels would be produced by sacraficing a distressed neighborhood. While I certainly feel for the residents who will be displaced, they should get first dibs on the new homes and the long term benefits will be tremendous....damn, 6000 jobs. Seriously, that's a lot. LOL
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-re.transition17jul17,1,3271432.story?coll=bal-realestate-headlines-1

In other news, I believe this has the potential to be a big factor in Baltimore growth in the future. By the time it gets built, the Baltimore metro will be much closer in distance to the Bay Bridge, but also it has the potential to take dollars away from the Baltimore Regional Rail Plan, as they are both MTA and both billion dollar projects.

Md. panel begins look at another bay bridge
Plans are in earliest stage, but opposition heating up
By Chris Guy
Sun Staff
Originally published July 18, 2005
There is no good place to build a new Chesapeake Bay bridge, no place that won't cost billions, no place that won't take 20 years to plan and construct, no place that won't prompt a tooth-and-nails battle with nearby residents, slow-growth forces and environmentalists.

But leaving things the way they are with one crossing would make current rush-hour tie-ups seem like child's play, and weekend backups could routinely stretch 12 miles in the doomsday gridlock predicted by traffic experts, who foresee more than a 40 percent increase in the number of vehicles using the existing bridge by 2025.

More than a half-century since the Bay Bridge spanned the Chesapeake and 30 years after its three-lane twin spurred a quickening march to and from the Eastern Shore, a 19-member state task force is taking tentative steps to find another crossing.

"All I know is that it's complicated, expensive and controversial," said O. James Lighthizer, a former state transportation secretary who co-chairs the task force. "There is no easy answer, and we aren't going to see any decision for years."

State planners say Maryland's population will increase by more than 1 million in the next 20 years, and that would mean 135,000 vehicles on a summer weekend day instead of the 95,000 that now cross on a Saturday or Sunday in the summer, according to the task force.

To exacerbate the current traffic nightmare, a complete re-decking of the 53-year-old eastbound span, the "old bridge," is due sometime in the next 15 to 20 years -- a prospect that chills the hearts of travelers and commuters who have endured construction delays on the 1973-vintage westbound span since 2002.

Panel members, a geographically balanced cross-section of state and local lawmakers from bay-front counties who were appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. last winter, say they're surprised how quickly the issue of a new bridge has stirred opposition.

"We are taking baby steps in what is going to be a marathon process before anybody is even making recommendations on this," said state Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a Republican who represents Queen Anne's and Kent counties, two locations mentioned as possible bridge sites. "We are not even remotely ready for a decision. We're to gather information and then put together a report."

Members say the panel isn't even charged with picking a site or determining how best to make a crossing (although most are apparently ruling out a tunnel as too expensive and ferries because they couldn't haul enough cars).

Four broad zones

The starting points of discussion, however, are focused on four broad zones that divide the upper bay and include Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, as well as their Eastern Shore counterparts, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot and Dorchester.

To transportation planners, those look like a baseline for state officials who eventually will have to choose a site. To residents in counties that could be affected, the diagrams seem to be aimed at them.

In Kent County, Chestertown Mayor Margo Bailey began making a stink when she heard that Kent County was included in the northernmost bay zone. She has already started distributing an incendiary petition that says state officials are considering a "massive bridge and interstate-like corridor ... the biggest threat in the 363-year history of our county."

"This is one issue where you'll see people join hands and stand in opposition," she said. "This county's united because this would destroy our historic district, destroy farmland and rip apart the fabric of our community." Bailey is planning a Web site and arranging a bus trip to Annapolis on Aug. 10 for the task force's next meeting.

Some task force members are already saying that Kent County is an unlikely choice for a new bridge because of the cost of building an 18-mile road at $50 million to $100 million a mile between the bay and U.S. 301.

'Chicken Little award'



Republican Del. Richard A. Sossi -- who represents Kent County as well as Kent Island, where the current 4.35-mile spans make life difficult for him and constituents who live on the island -- says jokingly that he plans to nominate Bailey for a state "Chicken Little, the sky is falling, award."

"I just do not see anything more for Kent Island," said Sossi, who has lived there for 30 years as traffic gradually increased to the point where islanders are left virtually housebound on weekends. "You can't put 20 pounds of feathers in a 10-pound bag."

Sossi says the alternative is to build somewhere south of the current bridge, which links Sandy Point and Kent Island, a choice that he says could siphon traffic from Southern Maryland, the Washington suburbs and Northern Virginia. That leaves zones 3 and 4, which include Talbot and Dorchester counties on the Eastern Shore and Anne Arundel and Calvert counties on the west side of the bay.

Most local and state officials scoff at the notion of a towering span looming over upscale Talbot County, where multimillion-dollar mansions line nearly 600 miles of shoreline.

Any landing in Dorchester would present its own problems: The Eastern Shore's largest county has huge tracts of wetlands, including the more than 27,000-acre Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

"There's no reason to get people in a panic," said Talbot County Councilman Philip Carey Foster. "Look at a map. I wouldn't favor it, even if I didn't live in Talbot. It's just stupid."

Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, a Republican who represents Calvert and St. Mary's counties, says residents want no part of any bay crossing.

"My constituents are convinced it would destroy Calvert County," O'Donnell said. "Any place you look, you're talking about an enormous amount of money for local infrastructure, upgrades on roads and everything else. And anywhere you'd build would substantially change land-use patterns on both sides of the bay."

Environmentalists such as Dru Schmidt-Perkins of 1000 Friends of Maryland have barely begun to look at the issue. Still, they worry that any new bridge will generate a new round of development in rural areas that are ill-equipped to handle it.

The state's Reach the Beach campaign of the late 1980s, a series of road improvements aimed at speeding the trip to Ocean City, clearly shows the unintended impact of improving access to the Eastern Shore, she says.

"Any [additional] crossing, north or south, and there will be an explosion of growth, beyond what we're already seeing on the Shore, on both sides of the bay," Schmidt-Perkins said. "This is a long way from happening, but it would not reduce traffic anywhere. It would increase traffic."

Someone is going to have to eventually grab the shortest stick and just suck it up. We aren't talking about if a new span will be needed, a new span IS needed, and has been for some time. Sometimes NIMBY's can stop a project, but I don't think they're going to have much say in this.

You could build a new bay bridge if you extended rt 702 in essex across Hart Miller Island and then to the eatsern shore.

My guess is the eastern part of the bridge would end up a highway going into Chestertown and then hooking up with 301. It seems like a highway would junction with 695, like you said, around Essex.

WDG-Habib Architecture, Inc. once had a project called "550 West Pratt Street." I discovered this project on emporis. It was to be 19 floors, it was to become an office component, and by the looks of it, the brick-facade image of it wouldn't have looked that bad. oh well. another letdown of skyscrapers the should've been built, but hasn't been built.

http://www.wdg-habib.com/office.html




I think when David S. Brown scrapped the 29-story tower at 500 East Pratt Street, I was truly furious that on a MAJOR parcel such as that 1 smack dead in the inner harbor, all that could be offered was a 3-story retail building. Now, i hear that it's going to have a best-buy and maybe 2 upscale restaurants in it, but it's the principal of the matter. Here's the rendering of what it would've looked like. I would post the pic on here, but i don't know how to do it yet; so i'll just send the link. May i please ask for assistance from someone on how to post a picture?

http://www.brownandcraig.com/

This decision is truly a no-brainer. GO WITH HACKERMAN!!!!!!!!!!! there's some things that u just don't jave to be a rocket scientist to realize. :bash: :evil:

I agree. Also, great link at the Brown And Craig website. I never knew that existed. In order to post images type then the url of the image, and then

Some of those pictures are looking good though. You're right, it's a shame Harbor Tower was never built, but Canton Crossing seems to get better with every rendering that is released. It could still stand to be a little more diverse in terms of its looks though. And Eutaw Square seems to be a project to keep an eye on two. Any news on that?

Take a look at the second pic of the Charles Street renovation under the Urban design link. It looks cool, but why are there so many horses? It would definitely be cool if that was the way it was, but somehow I don't see horse drawn carriages with drivers in coattails and tophats as being a primary or even secondary mode of transit for Baltimoreans. Let's stick with the streetcar idea.

Welcome, MasonsInquiries. :)
Nice find. Yes, we've seen that first rendering. But the others I have not. I could not post the pictures either because it's not copiable. At least I don't have the ability to do it.
BTW, the Lockwood Place apartment tower that was scrapped is called, "Harbor Tower". This is the Harbor Tower I have been hearing about lately. This could well mean that the tower still might be built. :) :)

BTW, MasonsInquiries, to post a picture, just right-click on the picture you want posted. Then click on "properties". You'll see the URL Address. Highlight the address by left-clicking and holding your mouse over the entire address. When the whole address is highlighted then right-click anywhere inside the highlighted area. Then, click on copy.
When you get back here at the forum you can use this "Quick Reply" box by first typing this: then right-click after that and "paste" the address you copied. Then type this afterward:
That'll do it. Just hit "post quick reply" and the image will show up. :)
Oh yeah, you can use the regular, "post reply" section and paste your address in the picture box it'self. All that does is it puts the and the around the address for you. :D
We are glad you are here at this forum. Please feel free to post anytime. :)

Welcome, MasonsInquiries. :)
Nice find. Yes, we've seen that first rendering. But the others I have not. I could not post the pictures either because it's not copiable. At least I don't have the ability to do it.
BTW, the Lockwood Place apartment tower that was scrapped is called, "Harbor Tower". This is the Harbor Tower I have been hearing about lately. This could well mean that the tower still might be built. :) :)

BTW, MasonsInquiries, to post a picture, just right-click on the picture you want posted. Then click on "properties". You'll see the URL Address. Highlight the address by left-clicking and holding your mouse over the entire address. When the whole address is highlighted then right-click anywhere inside the highlighted area. Then, click on copy.
When you get back here at the forum you can use this "Quick Reply" box by first typing this: then right-click after that and "paste" the address you copied. Then type this afterward:
That'll do it. Just hit "post quick reply" and the image will show up. :)
Oh yeah, you can use the regular, "post reply" section and paste your address in the picture box it'self. All that does is it puts the and the around the address for you. :D
We are glad you are here at this forum. Please feel free to post anytime. :)


Thanks steve!!!!!!!!! i really appreciate it!!!!

I looked though the www.brownandcraig.com website and saw some interesting things if you go to the portfolio under urban retail/ mixed use you see projects like Eutaw Square, Canton Crossing. I didn't know that brownandcraig where apart of the Canton Crossing project. I never heard of Eutaw Square, was that a project that failed like harbor tower. It just seems like just 7 or more months ago we were all disappointed about this project not happening but the harbor tower still seems to be advertised on the website.

yeah, harbor tower still could happen.

This project will end up being close to where the new Hopkins Biotech park will be. Hopefully the two will help play off of each other in a good way

City receives three bids for old brewery campus
Proposals include a social services center, UTECH headquarters
By Eric Siegel
Sun Staff
Originally published July 17, 2005

East Baltimore's vacant American Brewery campus could become the headquarters of a Maryland nonprofit social services provider or be restored as a beer-making facility targeting the Hispanic market under two proposals received by the city for the property.

A third proposal by a Baltimore-based underground utility company offers to turn a bottling plant on the 2-acre city-owned site in the 1700 block of N. Gay St. into the company's headquarters. But the company said it is not interested in the 19th-century brewhouse that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Two months ago, the city issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the site, which has been vacant since the early 1970s and is in one of the most blighted areas of Baltimore. The deadline for responses was last week.

"Given the level of interest, we were hoping for more proposals," said Ted Laster, real estate supervisor with the city's housing department. But he added, "It's a big project, it's a complicated project."

Laster said the department would set up a review panel and schedule a community meeting to present the plans. An award of a six-month exclusive negotiating privilege for the property could be made as early as September, assuming that at least one of the offers is deemed acceptable, he said.

The most extensive proposal was made by the American Brewery LLC, a partnership of well-known Baltimore developer Streuver Bros., Eccles & Rouse; minority builder Gotham Development; and Humanim Inc.

According to the proposal, the towering red-brick brewhouse building would be renovated into offices for Columbia-based Humanim, which provides vocational, mental health and other services to children and adults with developmental disabilities. The proposal said the nonprofit would relocate 250 staffers to the brewery site and hire an additional 60 workers.

The proposal said that nearly half the anticipated $17 million cost of the project would come from state and federal historic tax credits and that Humanim would be responsible for raising $4 million to $5 million, including $1.6 million in state money already approved. The developer said it wanted to pay $1 for the property.

Streuver Bros. has redeveloped several vacant commercial properties around the city, including Tide Point in Locust Point and The American Can Co. in Canton, and it was involved in a failed attempt to redevelop the American Brewery site in the 1990s. The company was also the general contractor for a senior citizens housing complex that opened in 2003 at the site of the former brewmaster's house across North Gay Street from the brewery campus.

New York-based Oakmar Resources & Associates proposed a $10 million plan to "restore the brewery back to its operating levels" and said by the end of its first year of operation it anticipated producing 160,000 bottles of beer a month targeted to the Hispanic market in the United States. It promises to partner with an African brewery based in Sierra Leone.

The proposal described Oakmar as a real estate financing and development firm founded in 1997, and said it would provide information on its development experience later. Andrew Schwab, an attorney listed as a contact, described Oakmar as a "minority-controlled company" whose principals had "considerable development experience" but said he was not authorized to be more specific.

UTECH, the Baltimore-based firm that lays cable infrastructure and site utilities, said it was interested "solely in the former bottling plant." It said it would spend $1.5 million to turn the building into its corporate headquarters, including the purchase price of $265,266.

My guess is the eastern part of the bridge would end up a highway going into Chestertown and then hooking up with 301. It seems like a highway would junction with 695, like you said, around Essex.

I bet we're as old as the hills before this happens. We might actually run out of gas first. Between enrironmental concerns, cost and opposition, especially on the Eastern Shore, this is going to be fought at every turn (literally and figuratively). Not only will they need to build the bridge (a couple billion there) but they will need to build an almost-interstate level highway to connect the bridge to anything. There's nowhere to build it that wouldn't be much longer than Sandy Point - Kent Island so cost would go way high.

And just what would it connect to? If it were to go north of the current bridge, it's main destination would be Deleware beaches. Do we want to spend billions to make the drive better to Deleware? If we use Kent Island again (over their dead cold bodies) or if we went south (Dorchester county? Blackwater NWR?) it wouldn't do much if we didn't also add a couple lanes to US 50. Adding lanes there would require more bridges across the Nanticoke and Choptank otherwise those would return to being the bottlenecks they were before those bridges were enlarged.

On the western side of the bay, we would have the same problem connecting to the new bridge, and need a new highway there too. It must might be simpler to bring the beach over here. Or maybe build subway to OC.

Perhaps an easier and cheaper alternative to reaching the beach and back would be to simply better educating vacationers that in the summer: leaving early in the morning on a Saturday and driving back on Sunday afternoon isn’t a great idea.

At least once or twice a year I’ll drive to the Eastern Shore. Aside from occasional “moderate” traffic congestion at a few places, the last time I got caught in traffic was at least ten years ago. I vowed that would be the last time I would hit the road along with everyone else. If I go, I leave on a Friday night and come back early Sunday morning, or hold off until Monday.

^Or, you could go up to NJ like me! DIRTY JERZ!!!
Anyways, I'm psyched about the Harbor Tower even being a possibility! Even though it's not very tall, it would fill in a big hole along the waterfront, and with Water Tower behind it, the eastern portion of the harbor would look much better! Plus, it's a beautiful, shiny glass and steel tower that would brighten up the harbor!

I'm hoping a tower goes there as well, but, I don't know. I still think it's a bit doofy looking. The thing I don't like about it is the middle section and how it's like another building appears to pop out of it. It's just very inconsistent.

Perhaps an easier and cheaper alternative to reaching the beach and back would be to simply better educating vacationers that in the summer: leaving early in the morning on a Saturday and driving back on Sunday afternoon isn’t a great idea.

At least once or twice a year I’ll drive to the Eastern Shore. Aside from occasional “moderate” traffic congestion at a few places, the last time I got caught in traffic was at least ten years ago. I vowed that would be the last time I would hit the road along with everyone else. If I go, I leave on a Friday night and come back early Sunday morning, or hold off until Monday.

What the state should do is start advertising the route from Baltimore north up and around the bay (susquehanna bridge) and down through Delaware.

I'm hoping a tower goes there as well, but, I don't know. I still think it's a bit doofy looking. The thing I don't like about it is the middle section and how it's like another building appears to pop out of it. It's just very inconsistent.

Harbor Tower is not going to happen. They already built the retail center and thats the end of the story. I would concentrate the efforts on 'The Vue' at Harbor East (800 Aliceanna), 300 East Pratt, and the McCormick Site

Harbor Tower is not going to happen. They already built the retail center and thats the end of the story. I would concentrate the efforts on 'The Vue' at Harbor East (800 Aliceanna), 300 East Pratt, and the McCormick Site

Yeah, thats what I heard. Then I heard that the retail portion was designed with expansion/weight bearing in mind.

Also, whats "The Vue". Have any renderings of it?

Harbor Tower is not going to happen. They already built the retail center and thats the end of the story. I would concentrate the efforts on 'The Vue' at Harbor East (800 Aliceanna), 300 East Pratt, and the McCormick Site

Cmon NewBaltimore1980!!!!!!! Ya' gotta' keep the faith!!! That's a major parcel that's right on the harbor. I guess the tower is still on the website because David S. Brown Enterprises alone couldn't get it done without possibly putting his own company at risk, but now, he has Fred Craig and Bryce Turner to assist him which puts the possibility of the tower being built very well in tact. This website is relatively new, so i would have to say that i'm with SteveW on this issue. It's definitely going to be built. Maybe in 2 years or so. (i'm crossin' my fingers.....lol)

What the state should do is start advertising the route from Baltimore north up and around the bay (susquehanna bridge) and down through Delaware.

Thats the way I go sometimes. If you're going to the DE beaches, then it only adds about 45 min to an hour to your travel time. The nice thing is that its a relaxing drive instead of the normal RT 50 nightmare.

What the state should do is start advertising the route from Baltimore north up and around the bay (susquehanna bridge) and down through Delaware.
When I used to live in the Baltimore area, I often took the route north through Delaware. For that matter, if anyone that lives north of Baltimore City (say White Marsh, Bel Air, north...) then the Delaware route is probably the only way to go.

I work accross the street from the Lockwood Place development. (When I get my digital camera back in a few weeks, I'll take some pics, the glass is just about all up.)

One of these days I'll walk out at lunchtime and see if I can strike up a conversation with one of the guys working on the project. I don't see how it's possible to add a tower to the top of the building if they didn't plan for it with the steel. So I'll see if there's any truth to the rumor that the building was designed to support a tower on top without significant modifications to the existing structure.

Bear in mind that I'm not an engineer, but when I would walk by during the steel framing phase, it didn't look to me like the frame they were building could support a tower. It looked like a three story office building to me. Also, doesn't any tall building need significant sitework to anchor the structure in the ground? Not that this tower would need bedrock, but it surely needs something... and I just don't remember any work of that magnitude being done during the pouring of the foundation.

But, I'll see what the guys doing the actual work have to say. Though after observing the work for a few months, I'm not confident that there ever will be a tower at Lockwood Place in the next 15 years.

Am I the only one who wishes they could jump ahead and see what the skyline is going to look like in say 2030, 2050? Unless the world gets destroyed for some unseen reason, I should still be here in the 50's.

I think that's the first time I've ever heard anyone refer to the 50s and mean 2050.

But yeah, I'm very excited to see what form the skyline will take in the future. I'm more excited to see what status Baltimore will hold in the world scene in the future. Will it be a first-class city, second-class city, third-class...? The skyline would defintiely be an indicator of this. But I just hope Baltimore grows into the massive metropolis we all want it to be.

Am I the only one who wishes they could jump ahead and see what the skyline is going to look like in say 2030, 2050? Unless the world gets destroyed for some unseen reason, I should still be here in the 50's.


I'm predicting by the year 2050, Baltimore's Skyline (from the I-395 view) will be clearly visible from MLK Blvd all the way down pass the Canton Crossing project and on to I-95 on the east side of town. IMAGINE THAT!!! :applause: :nocrook: :omg: :righton: :banana: :lock:

I'm predicting by the year 2050, Baltimore's Skyline (from the I-395 view) will be clearly visible from MLK Blvd all the way down pass the Canton Crossing project and on to I-95 on the east side of town. IMAGINE THAT!!! :applause: :nocrook: :omg: :righton: :banana: :lock:

I'm sure I'll still be living in the same house I currently do, that is unless eminent domain deeps my property the perfect spot to re-start the nuclear bomb testing.

Anyone have any info. on the Union Wharf project in fells point and when it'll be getting underway? It looks really nice & spacious.

http://www.unionboxcompany.com/

My guess is the eastern part of the bridge would end up a highway going into Chestertown and then hooking up with 301. It seems like a highway would junction with 695, like you said, around Essex.

Here is some interesting information about old bridge plans:

Maryland had plans in the 1970s to build two more Chesapeake Bay bridges. The Northern Bay Bridge would have run from Miller Island near Edgemere in Baltimore County, to Tolchester Beach in Kent County, and the Southern Bay Bridge would have run from Lusby in Calvert County to Taylors Island in Dorchester County.

From this site http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge.html

This site also has some fascinating information on Baltimore's highway plans and abandoned projects, image if I-95 went right through Federal Hill with a bridge right over the inner harbor, how diffrent things would be.

Another interesting fact about the bay bridge is that when they were building it people would fall into the columns holding the bridge up, but for whatever reason that couldn't, or didn't want to, rescue them, so they just continued building the bridge with the people inside. That's what they told us in like third grade when we took a field trip tour of the bridge. I like to think that some of my relatives are helping to hold that bridge up everytime I drive downey ocean......

I love urban legends. LOL

Yeah I heard the same thing about the new Delaware RT 1 bridge which was built in 1995. Definately an urban legend.

GREAT NEWS!!!

Another tower for city's skyline
Settlement is anticipated of lawsuit that has delayed work on Water St. condos; Luxury units atop city garage
By Lorraine Mirabella
Sun Staff
Originally published July 20, 2005
Developers planning an upscale condo tower overlooking the Inner Harbor are forging ahead with the long-delayed project in anticipation of soon settling a lawsuit that has stalled construction.

The developers, a joint venture of Legacy Harrison Development of Baltimore and the Bush Companies of Virginia, expect to start work by September on the 414 Water Street condominiums, which will rise 21 stories atop an 11-story city-owned parking garage at the northwest corner of Water and Gay streets, adding another 30-plus-story tower to downtown's skyline.

Operating as LH Water Tower LLC, the developers plan to offer condos priced up to $600,000 at a time when downtown Baltimore is on track to double its number of residents by the end of the year.

"We had to defend a lawsuit, and that has taken some time," said Andrew A. Viola, vice president of Bush Construction Corp., which builds apartment and condo buildings primarily in Washington and Virginia. "We're in the throes of finalizing a resolution that will allow us" to proceed with closing a construction loan and starting to build, he said.

Robert Aydukovic, director of residential and economic development for the Downtown Partnership's Downtown Housing Initiative, has been working as an adviser to help mediate among those with an interest in the project, including the city's Parking Authority as owner of the garage, said Michael Evitts, a spokesman for Downtown Partnership.

Evitts said neither he nor Aydukovic could comment on negotiations or the city's role before a settlement is reached.

Officials at the Parking Authority, including the general counsel and the executive director, did not return calls yesterday. No one could be reached for comment in Mayor Martin O'Malley's office.

But the prospect of the city's participation in any settlement was indicated in court documents that noted that all parties in the lawsuit requested a postponement of a trial because of a "potential settlement subject to the approval of the Baltimore City Board of Estimates."

As the city's spending panel, the board votes on matters involving the city's finances.

A settlement would end a contentious dispute that has its roots in the state's savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

Legacy Harrison, led by local developers Brian D. Morris and Dean Harrison, acquired the air rights above the Custom House Parking Garage in January 2002 for $1.7 million and initially planned to build a 351-unit apartment building. They shifted to condos to take advantage of strong demand for downtown residences at a time when local real estate prices have been rising sharply.

But after joining with the Bush Companies, plans to start construction last November were delayed after a limited liability company that owns the land beneath the city-owned garage filed a lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court in September. The landowner, 414 Land LLC, objected to a condo development instead of an office building as was planned as early as 1984 by the project's original developer, the lawsuit says.

The suit was the latest chapter in the site's tangled history since the garage was built in the late 1980s, with plans for an office building to be constructed above it in a second phase.

In 1987, the project came under control of the Maryland Deposit Insurance Fund, the state agency that liquidated assets of Old Court Savings and Loan, after developer Lon Gore defaulted on a loan from the S&L.

Under a 1987 agreement, the city sold tax-exempt revenue bonds to purchase the garage from developer Meredith Organization and leased the land, while the developer retained the air rights, which have since changed hands several times, most recently going to LH Water Tower.

In the September lawsuit, 414 Land LLC, which includes one of the original limited partners in the project, Kyle Gore, says construction of a residential building atop the garage would cause the landowner "substantial financial injury and damage."

Steven A. Allen, the attorney for 414 Land, said neither he nor his client would comment on the case.

The condo developer, LH Water Tower, argued in court documents that nothing in any previous agreement prohibits construction of residential condos.

Viola, of Bush Construction, said he is confident a settlement will pave the way for the $47.5 million-to-$50 million project to finally proceed.

One- and two-bedroom condos in the 312-unit building will sell from the mid-$200,000 range to $600,000, Viola said. The condos will feature gourmet kitchens, crown molding, ceramic floors and extras such as a party room, business center, fitness center and two-level cascading pool. The developers hope to start selling condos next month, to close on a construction loan by the end of August, start building in September and complete the first units by January 2007.
"Just as the Washington market has experienced a real strong residential market, we've watched the Baltimore market with interest since we purchased the property, and there's good, sustainable absorption," Viola said. "We're keenly interested in that location because of its being in the central business district."

The Legacy Harrison portion of the Water Tower team is also involved in another high-profile downtown project, a luxury 165-unit high-rise condominium called the Zenith, near Camden Yards on the city's west side. The project sparked criticism recently amid reports that the city sold the developers the land for $750,000, far below an earlier city appraisal of the land showing a value of $1.96 million.

Morris, chief executive of Legacy Harrison, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The central business district has been evolving into more of a city center where people live as well as work, Evitts said. Under development just this year alone are 891 apartments and 87 condo units, he said.

Between 1999 and 2007, the Downtown Partnership projects that more than 3,000 apartments will have been completed or in the process, while nearly 600 condo units will have been built or will be under way. Among them are the $90 million Spinnaker Bay luxury condominiums in Harbor East and the Ritz-Carlton Residences, which has broken ground on Federal Hill's waterfront along Key Highway.

Viola said he expects residents of 414 Water Street to be either in the 28-to-34-year-old age bracket, or older, empty nesters.

"We saw this as an opportunity to purchase property at a good price and then to ... develop a residential project," Viola said.

I was excited also. Hopefully, Cityscape, Water Tower, Zenith and 300 East Pratt will all be under construction in the next 12 to 18 months.

I was excited also. Hopefully, Cityscape, Water Tower, Zenith and 300 East Pratt will all be under construction in the next 12 to 18 months.

Someone on the board (I can't remember who) said that there was going to be some big news that he/she could say very soon about Cityscape. Whoever that was, what happened to the news?

Oh happy days are here again!!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2005-07/18562944.jpg

Awesome news. That's a fine looking building. I'd like to live there.

There are also a few decent articles in the BBJ worth checking out. Nothing that needs to be posted here, but interested nonetheless.

Real quick question. What is the deal with Harbor Point? Is that just a lower-density extension of Harbor East? Are there any single projects taking place there that are of interest?

This is awesome news, I can't wait to see the tower crane(s) set up. Hope 300 E. Pratt starts soon too. By the way Canton Crossing Tower is looking pretty good. I can see it from my house here in northeast baltimore. Also I can see the 2 bayview towers as well. :)

http://aaubreybodine.com/stock/27/27-167.jpg


Old dense gothic Bmore.

Thankfully we've had the BoA tower for all these years, else Baltimore would have had a very short skyline.

Awesome news. That's a fine looking building. I'd like to live there.

Its a nice looking building, no doubt, but that area of downtown needs a little more cleaning up before I'd live there. My company is assigned to park in that garage and let me tell you, the smell of urine and the large number of homeless people in that area are enough to make you want to park elsewhere.

First, its on "the block" which wouldnt be so bad if the city forced those club owners to maintain their properties. Im not against Baltimore having a red light district, but it certainly can be done with more class and in better taste than what is currently there. Clean up the buildings, improve the streetscape, widen the sidewalks, get rid of parking, add signage, etc. With the Benton Building, City Hall, and the BPD headquarters in such close proximity, there's no reason this area should look the way it does.

Despite being a could of blocks away from the waterfront and the Power Plant Live entertainment complex, it seems so removed from everything. Too many buildings in that area are unused or underused. There's no reason why Baltimore Street cant be a respectable downtown corridor. Its fine in some parts and seedy in others.

http://aaubreybodine.com/stock/27/27-167.jpg
Old dense gothic Bmore.

How things have changed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/SC99GU03/Inner_Harbor_at_Night.jpg

Good article: http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2005/07/18/story3.html

:)

Real quick question. What is the deal with Harbor Point? Is that just a lower-density extension of Harbor East? Are there any single projects taking place there that are of interest?
BDC said Harbor East is indeed an extension of Harbor East. Baltimore's going to have a MAJOR skyline in 3-5 years. It's going to be beautiful!!! I am so excited!!

Thankfully we've had the BoA tower for all these years, else Baltimore would have had a very short skyline.


I couldn't agree with you more. It's a beautiful building. WHAT A CLASSIC!!!!!!!!


:nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook: :nocrook:

This is fantastic news. Now Emporis can scratch off the Water Tower as "never built" hopefully. Once the building's crown tops out, then I'll be satisfied. ;) I'm also excited about this speculation surrounding 300 E. Pratt and the Harbor Tower, two stalled lots getting another look. :)

I knew it wasn't dead! See.... you gotta have faith! Hopefully that lawsuit was the only thing stalling the Zenith as well. Can't wait to see construction start up! Imagine the cranes a year from now if they start building Harbor Point, Water Tower, Zenith, Cityscape, and St. Regis (and hopefully a Convention Hotel) all at the same time!!

By the way, I don't trust Emporis at all when it comes to Baltimore. They need to recruit one of us to keep them updated.

Emporis is way off for Baltimore. Two years ago I sent them a list of 150-some highrises in Baltimore that weren't listed in their database. I included everything - name, address, number of floors (I couldn't get height for everything), developer and so on, and they never did anything about it.

That's true..once in a while they'll add another 10 story or so building to the list, but they don't have many updates at all. They still have Spinnaker Bay as under construction, when I'm pretty sure they're now leasing at this point.

Emporis is always wrong. When I lived in Philly, they had buildings listed that were already torn down. They also didn't have newer buildings.

And some idiot acutually based an argument on what Emporis had on its website. SSP is pretty bad also.

Bmore is doing wonders for itself. Out with old gothic (which I like) and in with shiny sleek futuristic (which I love)

I does pain me a little to see cities like Bmore and Philly change so fast. I like the look of the old, crowded, busy looking skylines. It looks like the city is jumping with activity.

The new skyline looks peaceful and quiet. (probably just me)

Baltimore's only 5-star hotel is for sale
'Top dollar' expected for Harbor Court complex; One Market Center also on block
By Lorraine Mirabella
Sun Staff
Originally published July 21, 2005

The Harbor Court Hotel, one of the Inner Harbor's early high-profile projects and Baltimore's only five-star hotel, is for sale and is expected to generate strong interest from buyers at a time when hotel values are rising and investors face a shortage of luxury hotel deals.

Harbor Court, which opened in 1986 and helped give the city an aura of elegance and sophistication, is being sold by its original owner and developer, Los Angeles-based David Murdock.

Murdock, a multimillionaire Los Angeles financier who wowed city officials two decades ago with the upscale waterfront project, is also selling his only other city property, the One Market Center office and retail building at Howard and Lexington streets on the west side. There, in the 1980s, Murdock had ambitious but unfulfilled plans to spend up to $250 million to revitalize the city's traditional Howard Street retail district.

Harbor Court, which includes a 195-room hotel, 72,000 square feet of office space and an attached parking garage, as well as condominiums not included in the pending sale, once represented the largest single private undertaking in Baltimore's history when developed at a cost of $85 million.

"Given the Baltimore market, the terrific status of the hotel and the general overall economy, we think it's a good time to sell," Ed Roohan, president and chief operating officer of Castle and Cooke, the development company owned by Murdock, said yesterday.

Real estate experts expect the hotel property to fetch top dollar at a time when investor interest in lodging has outpaced available properties. With its prime Inner Harbor location and a reputation as a well-managed, well-maintained boutique hotel, Harbor Court should draw strong interest, especially given the city's strong hotel market.

"It is a very opportunistic time to be a seller," said Rod Petrik, a managing director and lodging analyst at Baltimore-based Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. "There's a lot of capital and a lot of liquidity in the real estate market overall, which would include hotels. Today, there's probably more capital chasing deals than there are deals available."

Harbor Court has a reputation as the top hotel in one of the better secondary hotel markets, he said.

Hotel values have appreciated 20 percent to 25 percent in the past year, thanks to low interest rates and greater demand than supply, Petrik said.

"Fundamentals have clearly improved in the lodging industry, but it's also a case where you have interest rates that have remained low," he said. "There seems to be more demand for product than supply, and that has driven prices up."

Within the lodging sector, the demand for luxury hotels has been strong, said Kevin Mallory, a senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis Hotels, the broker selling the property. That's because most of those are located in prime center city locations and not as susceptible to the volatility of the marketplace, Mallory said.

"There are few five-star properties on the market today, so we expect this to receive a great

deal of attention," Mallory said.

With large, urban hotels selling this year in a range of $220,000 per room to $289,000 per room in cities larger than Baltimore, the Harbor Court hotel portion could fetch more than $200,000 a room, or at least $39 million, Petrik said. But with the hotel's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization projected at nearly $5.3 million this year, according to CB Richard Ellis Inc., the hotel could be worth even more, Petrik said, as much as $325,000 per room, or $63 million.

One of the first upscale hotels in a transformed Inner Harbor, Harbor Court remained privately owned and operated during its two decades and maintained its reputation for service and upscale amenities.

"Over the years, it's never lost any of its luster," said Owen J. Rouse Jr., a senior vice president and director of investment services for Manekin LLC, a Columbia-based real estate company. "It never got tattered. It was always so well-maintained, and it continues to be the nicest facility in town in terms of service."

The hotel has gained brand recognition from those who travel to Baltimore.

"There is a segment of the travel industry that likes the smaller, boutique-style hotels," Rouse said.

Though the hotel may not have the advantages of a large chain, such as a chainwide reservation system, it should be attractive to buyers for other reasons, he said.

It is a self-contained complex, with banquet space, parking, restaurants and a spa, and has three income generators: the hotel, with an average room rate this year of $234 according to the CBRE sales offering, the offices and the 530-space attached garage.

"I think given the investment climate in Baltimore, that kind of property will fetch top dollar," Rouse said.

Murdock, who also owns two hotels in Hawaii, and is building a hotel in Los Angeles, decided to sell Harbor Court, in part to shift his company's focus away from hotels and more on residential and other commercial development projects, said Roohan of Castle and Cooke.

"As we look down the road in the next five to 10 years and where we want to invest, we will focus on other investment opportunities," Roohan said.

Roohan said the company is also selling One Market Center, a seven-story building with more than 200,000 square feet of office and retail space. In the mid-1980s, the building - on the site of the former Hochschild Kohn department store - housed a financially struggling Hutzler's Palace, adjacent to the original Hutzler's department store.

so it seems like there's tons going on in bmore. it'd be cool to see a rendering if all the proposed, approved and current construction were completed. anyone have the skills?

schreiwalker, i present to u "the TRUE rendering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" of it all!!!!!!!!! It's going to make the skyline look very impressive. it's on page 11 of 36.


http://www.harboreast.com/leasing/h...st_brochure.pdf

schreiwalker, i present to u "the TRUE rendering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" of it all!!!!!!!!! It's going to make the skyline look very impressive. it's on page 11 of 36.


http://www.harboreast.com/leasing/h...st_brochure.pdf

Something's wrong with your link. This should work.

http://www.harboreast.com/leasing/harboreast_brochure.pdf

Something's wrong with your link. This should work.

http://www.harboreast.com/leasing/harboreast_brochure.pdf


lol.....woops!! sorry. Thanks for the "quickerpickerupper" SoBoChris.

What a great brochure. I would like to see a little more height in Harbor Point though. But I'm very excited about these upscale amenities. It will definitely help tourism. I always thought Baltimore was kind of a joke when we would expect tourists to be in awe of Wilma's Second Hand Thrift Store in Hampden, or whatever they have over there. Don't get me wrong, Hampden is great and all of Baltimore's quirkiness is what makes it great, but if you want to be a first-class city, you need your Banana Republics, H&Ms, Saks, etc.

In other upscale news, my dad just told me ANOTHER upscale Asian restaurant chain was moving into the North Baltimore/Towson area. Some place called Pei Mei or Mei Pei - something, I don't know.

Does anyone know how tall the 1St Mariner Tower in Canton suppose to be? When I was driving south on 95 I drove right past it. It looks to be already 200 ft and they still have a little ways to go.

Peter, I think the name of the restaurant that you where referring to is Mie n Yu. I've been to the Georgetown location but I had read in the WBJ that they are thinking of opening a branch in Annapolis not North Baltimore or Towson.

Anyway, welcome to all of the new posters. I have been enjoying reading all of the postings lately. The August issue of Baltimore Magazine that I just received in the post yesterday has a big spread on Harbor East, interviews with the developers, some great ariel shots of the area being developed and last but not least a 2 page spread showing a model of the development starting with the new Four Seasons hotel and going east. It's worth taking a look at.

I also agree with ErikW regarding that area around the new Water Tower condos. The city will need to clean that area up before the new condos are ready because as you say, it is pretty seedy at the moment. On Gay St. you have a homless mission and next to that is the Big Top. Then on Commerce St. you have the Hustler Club. Would somebody really plonk down $600,000 to live in an area like that? Maybe the developers are hoping that once the condos start to sell, it will persuad the city to clean up the area but given the fact that the city does a piss poor job of trash pick up in general, I think that is hoping for too much. Right now the Purple People don't seem to be doing such a good job at least not in that area although Charles St. is looking pristine by comparison.

Does anyone know how tall the 1St Mariner Tower in Canton suppose to be? When I was driving south on 95 I drove right past it. It looks to be already 200 ft and they still have a little ways to go.


Brian,

1st mariner tower's gonna be 17 stories now. at first, it was going to be 20 stories, but i heard that a couple of components were being removed or something to that nature. there's also going to a 18 story condo-tower which should add to the city's eastside.


http://www.midtowncanton.com/condos.html

Does anyone know how tall the 1St Mariner Tower in Canton suppose to be? When I was driving south on 95 I drove right past it. It looks to be already 200 ft and they still have a little ways to go.

Brian,
If everything is going as planned and no additions or subtractions to the tower, I remember the height being 330 ft. when finished. Not bad for a 17 story tower. I believe the condos that will be erected next to it will be between 290 ft. tall and 300 ft. tall, if I remember correctly. :D

This is fantastic news. Now Emporis can scratch off the Water Tower as "never built" hopefully. Once the building's crown tops out, then I'll be satisfied. ;) I'm also excited about this speculation surrounding 300 E. Pratt and the Harbor Tower, two stalled lots getting another look. :)
I'm much more confident that 300 East Pratt will be built before Harbor Tower due to the latest news on it I heard from the BDC's 300 East Pratt Street project manager. :)
Though I am greedy now, I want Harbor Tower built too. :D ;)

I knew it wasn't dead! See.... you gotta have faith! Hopefully that lawsuit was the only thing stalling the Zenith as well. Can't wait to see construction start up! Imagine the cranes a year from now if they start building Harbor Point, Water Tower, Zenith, Cityscape, and St. Regis (and hopefully a Convention Hotel) all at the same time!!

I just got goosebumps.......... :D

so it seems like there's tons going on in bmore. it'd be cool to see a rendering if all the proposed, approved and current construction were completed. anyone have the skills?

Here is the "Water Tower" apartment tower in this rendering:

http://www.baltimorelift.com/images/approach/left_details.gif
Look to the middle right. :D

BTW, Eporis is terrible. When it was called: skyscrapers.com it was a free site for everything. You could talk to or e-mail people at the site and tell them or ask them about projects and they would gladly tell you all they could. I used to e-mail them all the time to help update the Baltimore section. It worked fine. THEN the "powers-that-be" behind the site decided to make some money on ALLOT of people's hard work and time finding out info for them, (like me). They renamed the site, emporis.com and started charging a huge fee if you wanted to know the "extra" stuff. I've e-mailed them like 10 times since the change to emporis and I have not recieved ONE e-mail back. :bash: :cry:
And for the record, their information is so awful! Terrible! Way off!

"Planning panel OKs 200-foot Mount Vernon height limit"
--------------------------------------------------------
Dozens testify at hearing; compromise now goes to City Council committee
By Jill Rosen and William Wan
Sun Staff
Originally published July 22, 2005



Baltimore's Planning Commission put its seal of approval last night on a plan that would dictate how - and how high -one of Baltimore's most historic neighborhoods will evolve.

The board, bowing slightly to emotional pleas from preservationists, unanimously approved a renewal plan for Mount Vernon that would allow buildings to stand 200 feet tall - down from a 230-foot limit city planners envisioned.

More than 100 people packed the hearing, and for hours dozens of them testified, forcefully asserting their views on how tall buildings will either save or doom the neighborhood, Baltimore's oldest historic district.

"Somehow we need vibrancy. We've got to make [Baltimore] a 24-hour town, a world-class city," said Commissioner Javier G. Bustamante. "We have to think outside the box. I'm not for tall buildings, I'm for good buildings."

The goal behind the city's plan is to get more people on Mount Vernon's streets by encouraging denser development. Despite the neighborhood's grand architecture, cultural attractions and proximity to downtown, redevelopment dollars have largely left it alone as developers rush to invest in Federal Hill, Canton and Fells Point.

Mount Vernon's vacant lots and relatively stagnant retail life frustrate planners, residents and developers alike. By updating the neighborhood's outdated development guidelines, planners hope to set Mount Vernon in a new direction, giving it the vitality other areas of Baltimore are beginning to experience.

But how far to let developers go - specifically, how high they can build - all but froze the plan over the past five years. Preservationists insist that tall buildings will overwhelm Mount Vernon's streetscape, while developers say anything but tall is not worth their time.

Charles Street Development Corp., a group whose goal is revitalizing business along Charles Street, has insisted developers need at least 200-foot-tall buildings to make money. Preservationists argue that buildings higher than 100 feet will destroy Mount Vernon's historic character.

Development corporation Chairman Henry Hagan said that the Planning Commission's recommendation to trim heights "ignores economic reality." Preservationists breathed a sigh of relief and hoped the City Council would lower the limits even further.

The plan now goes to the City Council's urban affairs committee. A hearing date has not been set.

Initially, the city took a position between the two sides, advocating 150-foot limits with a possibility for developers who meet certain conditions to earn 30-foot "bonuses." The city then adjusted the plan in favor of builders, allowing for heights up to 230 feet.

Consultants for Charles Street Development Corp. flashed pictures before the commission last night of Philadelphia, first a colorless shot of the city in 1968 with a flat skyline, then in 1987, the city's skyscrapers twinkling against the evening sky.

"The mix of high and low works beautifully," said George E. Thomas of Civic Visions, contrasting that with Mount Vernon.

Paul Warren, a Mount Vernon homeowner leading the "Fight the Height" campaign, countered with his own visual aid - a slide depicting what Charles Street would look like with taller buildings crowding the brownstones and shops.

Saying density will benefit the community is like saying "good will leads to peace on earth," Warren said. "I would encourage those in the discussion tonight not to talk about density in an overglorified manner."

The plan not only eases the way for taller buildings, it saps power from the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, a government entity recently moved from the city Housing Department to the city Planning Department that has long kept a watchful eye on Mount Vernon development.

Near the Washington Monument, buildings taller than 70 feet would be prohibited. But heading away from the landmark, heights could reach up to 180 feet. Developers outside the monument zone could apply for 50 more feet if their project meets a number of standards, including "significant" architecture and accommodations for affordable housing.

To get the bonus footage, a developer would have to win approval from both the Planning Commission and the preservation panel. Though the plan would allow the Planning Commission to grant waivers should "any specific requirements" of the plan be deemed too restrictive, the commission voted last night to omit the waiver clause.

Preservation commission Chairwoman Judith Miller told the planning panel that despite initially favoring the recent move of her board to the Planning Department, she now believes it was done to silence it.

Though the plan would also create a new board - in addition to the preservation commission - from which developers would have to win approval before building in Mount Vernon, the planning commission advised last night against it. The nine-member panel would include representatives from business groups and neighborhood organizations and be led by the City Council member from the 11th District - now Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr.

"This emasculates CHAP," Miller said, adding that Mount Vernon's charm is threatened without the panel's guidance.

Another consultant for Charles Street Development Corp., Anirban Basu of Sage Policy Group, warned against stifling height limits.

"Please let us not be suburban in our attitudes and our thinking," he said. "Just when developers are getting excited about Baltimore we want to cap our potential - utterly frustrating."

I knew it wasn't dead! See.... you gotta have faith! Hopefully that lawsuit was the only thing stalling the Zenith as well. Can't wait to see construction start up! Imagine the cranes a year from now if they start building Harbor Point, Water Tower, Zenith, Cityscape, and St. Regis (and hopefully a Convention Hotel) all at the same time!!


I'm also getting geared up about this 414 Light Street (St. Regis) project. I think it's really going to have some "real" height to it. I've given up on QuadrangleRLJ's convention center plan alltogether. It's becoming too much of a 3-ring circus between the BDC, The City Council, and RLJ/Quadrangle

Baltimore LOVES museums!

Islamic art museum set to open in downtown
Center will also house a mosque and a library
By Glenn McNatt
Sun Art Critic
Originally published July 22, 2005

A new museum of Islamic art and culture will open in December in downtown Baltimore as part of an effort by Maryland Muslims to promote greater understanding of their religion in the aftermath of attacks such as this month's bombing of the London subway.

Plans for the museum, to be called the American Museum of Islamic Arts, will be announced during a launch today of a new Islamic community center inside a former bank building at 240 N. Howard St. Mayor Martin O'Malley is expected to be on hand for the 1:45 p.m. ceremony.

The center will serve as a mosque for Muslims who live or work downtown, as well as house the museum and a library where the public can learn more about the Islamic faith.

"We want to build a positive image of Islam and Muslims," said Ghazal Chughtai, the center's executive director. "It's clear we still have a lot of work to do."

The mosque is on the Islamic center's ground floor and the museum and library will occupy the two upper stories. Eventually, the center will also open a free health-care clinic and a shelter for battered women, Chughtai said.

The building, located at the corner of Howard and Saratoga streets, was built in 1904 as the Provident Savings Bank. Its present owner, Ahmed Adam, bought the property about 10 years ago and is leasing it over the next two years to the mosque and community center for $1 a month.

Ronald Kreitner, executive director of WestSide Renaissance, a nonprofit group that works to foster redevelopment in the neighborhood, said a museum of Islamic art and culture could fit in well with long-term efforts to revive the area.

"Museums and other attractions are an integral part of the Westside plan," Kreitner said. "If it makes good use of a building, it would be a welcome addition."

Most of the new museum's collection will be donated by private citizens or loaned from other institutions, said Shahab Qarni of the Maryland Muslim Council, which co-sponsored the center with the Islamic Society of Baltimore. Baltimore's Muslim population numbers more than 10,000, according to 2000 census figures.

"We're doing this in downtown because it's close to the convention center and it's a tourist attraction," Qarni said.

He added that the museum, which has been promised 2,000 pieces by a private collector, will have 9,000 square feet of exhibition space and a staff of three. Eventually its holdings are expected to include examples of traditional and contemporary artworks from Muslim communities around the world.

"Islam is one religion, but each culture is different," Chughtai said. "We are working with everyone to get artworks, including the Baltimore Jewish community. We have Egyptians, Moroccans, Pakistanis and many others, and we will exhibit works from all these cultures in the museum."

Currently, Baltimore's largest collection of Islamic art is at the Walters Art Museum, which owns excellent examples of Islamic manuscripts, calligraphy, ceramics, glass, jewelry and textiles, said Walters curator Regine Schulz.

Schulz welcomed the new museum as a counter to the negative stereotypes of Muslims that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and the recent bombings in London.

"Islamic art and culture help us understand that Muslims have a very special interest and feeling for spiritual beauty," Schulz said. "If you are a good Muslim, you're interested in the beautiful expression of the religion - in its calligraphy or architecture, for example."

Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon that runs counter to the tenets of every religion, including Islam, Schulz said.

"Islamic art never depicts the ugly, disrespectful or evil," she added. "That would be against their idea that art should show the beauty of the religion."

Sun staff writer Jill Rosen contributed to this article.

I just received this email from the Canton Community Association. I think we should get a lot of people at this meeting. The problem is Canton is run by a very vocal minority who hates development. This is a great project and should happen to make Canton into a small 24 hour urban center. For those who are curious, this is basically right across the street from the Safeway in the parking lot.



Everyone --

A very important announcement...

Councilman Kraft's office is coordinating a meeting on the proposed
development for the Lighthouse Point pad site on the other side of Boston
Street (between where Blockbuster is and the Tindeco building). The
proposal as it stands right now is for a series of townhomes along the
waterfront (some 50 in all), with a 30 story condo building (295 feet
tall), along with an adjacent hotel (146 feet tall). I would encourage
you to come, listen, and provide your thoughts and opinions.

|====|

Lighthouse Point Proposal Presentation

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2005
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
at St. Casimir Church's Kolbe Center

You are invited to come hear about and comment on cignal corp's proposed
plans for the lighthouse point development.

--
Stephen Strohl
President
Canton Community Association (CCA)
P.O. Box 5125
Baltimore, MD 21224
Phone: 410-342-0900 (24 hour voice mail)
http://www.cantoncommunity.org

Here is the "Water Tower" apartment tower in this rendering:

http://www.baltimorelift.com/images/approach/left_details.gif
Look to the middle right. :D

BTW, Eporis is terrible. When it was called: skyscrapers.com it was a free site for everything. You could talk to or e-mail people at the site and tell them or ask them about projects and they would gladly tell you all they could. I used to e-mail them all the time to help update the Baltimore section. It worked fine. THEN the "powers-that-be" behind the site decided to make some money on ALLOT of people's hard work and time finding out info for them, (like me). They renamed the site, emporis.com and started charging a huge fee if you wanted to know the "extra" stuff. I've e-mailed them like 10 times since the change to emporis and I have not recieved ONE e-mail back. :bash: :cry:
And for the record, their information is so awful! Terrible! Way off!


From the looks of it, looks like the convention center hotel is also in the rendering (north of camden yards). That would really be something if it was actually built.

It's interesting you mention that NewBaltimore, because on the other side of the harbor, the Key Highway development is slated for extensive community discussion on Tuesday July 26th.

It will be interesting to see the results of this event and the proposal ultimately put forth to the city council by the planning department. There could be upwards of 4 towers with the current planning department proposal, but after Tuesday, perhaps less, or none at all, if height limits are proposed and then accepted by the city.

Another item in jeopardy is the planned retail, because the Federal Hill merchants have some concerns. (Rumor is a Trader Joes, among other things.)

Hopefully, everyone that attends this event is in agreement that the state of this section of Key Highway is desolate, barren, and needs some kind of development. What it ends up being is anyone's guess.

Here's the info:
-------------------------

This is a reminder that on July 26th, 2005, the Key Highway Task Force Charette will be held at Digital Harbor High School. It begins at 6:00 PM and will end around 10 PM. This will be the only interactive meeting involving the community.

Now, many of you might be asking yourself, “What is a Charette?” I asked myself the same question and this is what I found out: The term “charette” evolved from an exercise in France where Architectural students were given a design problem to solve within an allotted time. When that time was up, the students would rush their drawings in a cart called a charette. Students often jumped in the cart to finish their drawings on the way.

Today, it refers to a creative process used by design professionals to develop solutions to a design problem within a limited timeframe, which brings us to the Key Highway Charette. This activity will bring together all interested stakeholders: residents, developers, architects, business owners and city staff.

I hope after reading through the basic agenda, you will have a better understanding of what to expect. Please recognize this is a basic draft and not written in stone.

Museum of Industry
5:00 PM: (optional) there will be a tour of the focus areas. The tour will last approximately 30 minutes and will end at Digital Harbor before the charette begins. Meet at the front entrance gate of the Museum of Industry

Digital Harbor High School
6:00 PM: Doors Open; sign in
6:30 PM Welcome and Introductions
+Update on Process
+Goals and Guidelines for the evening

7:00 PM Presentation: Analysis/Existing Conditions
7:15 PM Breakout Session #1: Waterfront Amenities
+Citywide waterfront context
+Access/view corridors based on existing street grids
+Open space opportunities
+Kinds of activity

8:00 PM Break

8:15 PM Breakout Session #2: Form
+Discuss lot sizes, building dimensions, parking requirements, other development facts using base map/model
+Waterfront precedents
+“Frame” for Key Highway and waterfront: height, bulk, and views.
+Look at potential strengths/weaknesses of row house, mid-rise, tower schemes.
+Design guidelines.

9:00 PM Break

9:15 PM Task Force members present summary of the evening’s work.

9:25 PM Discussion- Questions/Answers

I am on the key highway task force. Its been interesting to say the least. Hopefully people will come out. Planning is doing a nice job getting people split upo at several tables to work with planners and architects in helping define their wishes and wants and shaping those in form and regulations. Should be a good exercise.

I'm all for the tower developments simply because I think it would make a nice little skyline and I've always dreamt of a Baltimore skyline that wraps around the harbor. However, one of my favorite things about Federal Hill is its local merchants and lack of big business. If development can occur without the big retailers and the local merchants are able to suitably provide for the neighborhood, I'd rather do without the big name retailers in Federal Hill. I feel it would take away from some of the neighborhoods charm. Then again I grew up about as far away from Federal Hill as possible, so my opinion is limited in value.

In other news, the rumor around Locust Point is that the grain silos which were to house the parking garage in the Silo Point development, are not structually sound. They're looking at re-inforcing them somehow. If they can't, I'm not sure what that would mean for the condo portion of the project, because they'll definitely need a garage to house all those cars...

The other rumor floating around is that Mark Sapperstein's, who along with Patrick Tuner are the Silo Point developers, father was arrested/indicted on corruption charges.

These may be just some rumors, but I would hate to see that project get derailed, especially since it's in the middle of construction! (At least the townhouse portion.)

It's interesting you mention that NewBaltimore, because on the other side of the harbor, the Key Highway development is slated for extensive community discussion on Tuesday July 26th.

It will be interesting to see the results of this event and the proposal ultimately put forth to the city council by the planning department. There could be upwards of 4 towers with the current planning department proposal, but after Tuesday, perhaps less, or none at all, if height limits are proposed and then accepted by the city.



Well I hope the city and the neighborhood associations don't ruin this project like usual and cause the developer to not build towers. They are going to build in that spot and if they cant get towers the only other thing they can do is build townhomes like harborview and extend the 'fortress' down the road further.

I can't understand why business would say that they would be hurt by this proposal. The more business you have to make Baltimore a 'shopping destination' the more likely you are to get people to come downtown to go shopping. Right now there is not enough in fed hill for me to stay downtown and I have to head to the burbs. Instead of fighting this they should find a way to make their businesses a better draw. Of course its easier to just fight development and stop competition. Besides maybe the reason the stores don't make it is because no one wants to go there and the market is deciding who will survive, not the city circus (govt).

I really think that this proposal will go through no matter what. The city wants this proposal and the planning department does also. I think it would be great if the neighborhood association says no, and they build anyway. It would be great if the associations can work with the developers on the architecture, unfortunately you will get these 'no no no' people who will just fight it and not work with the developers. People like that (NIMBYS) make the associations seem irrelevant since the answer is always no.

I hope this development happens, too, NewBaltimore1980. In the long run it will be very good for the entire community.

In other news: :(

Towson U. won't house students in development
Decision is based on debt-load concerns in the building of a dormitory in central business district, university officials say; Residents had opposed Heritage-Cordish plan


By Laura Barnhardt
Sun Staff
Originally published July 23, 2005

Towson University officials said yesterday that the school will not house students as part of a development planned for downtown Towson, pleasing residents who don't want a dormitory in the heart of the county seat.

Alan Leberknight, interim vice president and chief financial officer of Towson University, said the decision to reject a bid by Heritage Properties and the Cordish Co. to build a 600-bed dormitory in Towson was based on how much debt the public university system would have had to carry and not on the community's opposition.

Still, residents who have been campaigning against the proposal since plans for Towson Circle III received preliminary approval by Baltimore County in December said the announcement was a victory, though they worry that they might have to renew their fight if other plans for college dormitories surface.

"Initially it was a great relief to hear the decision," said Judy Gregory, president of the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations. "But now, we're not convinced student housing couldn't slip in there."

In addition to the dormitory, the Heritage and Cordish plan included a 56,000-square-foot restaurant, a 725-space parking garage and 8,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

"It's a golden opportunity for Heritage to take all the feedback from residents and come up with a plan that Towson residents want - upscale restaurants, a mixed commercial use, a traffic pattern that allows reasonable flow and adequate parking," Gregory said. "It would be such a jewel right there."

Some business leaders who see an influx of students as key to Towson's economic vitality were disappointed by the decision.


A hope for future

"I hope the project resurfaces in the months to come," said Robert E. Latshaw Jr., a commercial real estate broker in Towson. "I firmly believe Towson's commercial business district needs the students and their families for retail and restaurants to succeed."

County Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, who represents the Towson area, said yesterday that he hopes that the developers will retain residences - "maybe condos or higher end apartments" - in their development plan.

"This particular site is critical to the revitalization of Towson's business district," Gardina said. "I didn't see a problem with student housing there. I'd rather see them in a managed student housing facility than dispersed in neighborhoods where they're unsupervised and we have a long history of problems."

Heritage and Cordish own the site, which is next to Towson Circle. That project, also a Heritage-Cordish collaboration, includes a Barnes & Noble, Trader Joe's and Pier 1 Imports.

Robert A. Hoffman, a lawyer for the developers, said he wasn't sure how the university's announcement would affect the development.

"We'll have to regroup and decide the best course of action," he said yesterday.

In December, the county's Development Review Committee - which includes representatives from the departments of environmental protection, planning, recreation and parks, permits and development management and zoning - gave the project the go-ahead.


An 'amendment'

Approval from the committee can expedite a project by up to a year. The project was allowed to go before the committee because it is considered an "amendment" to the existing Towson Circle project.

Although the developers said they had the university in mind when they submitted their plans to the county, university officials requested formal bids for off-campus student housing in April.

Several other developers, including Whiting Turner Contracting Co. and Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., attended an April conference to hear more about the university's request for housing proposals. But Heritage Properties and the Cordish Co. were the only developers to submit a formal proposal to the university, Leberknight said.

Heritage and Cordish submitted three scenarios in their proposal, said Leberknight. He declined to elaborate.


Still deciding

Leberknight said the university has not decided whether to issue another request for proposals for off-campus student housing or to look for a project similar to Millennium Hall, which opened in 2000 on university grounds under the management of Capstone Properties, or to University Village, built on the grounds of Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital adjacent to Towson and managed by American Campus Communities.

"The need for student housing doesn't go away," Leberknight said.

State Sen. James Brochin, a Towson Democrat, said yesterday that he hoped the university chooses to house students closer to or on the campus.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, NIMBYS, you've won this battle. :rant:

People like that (NIMBYS) make the associations seem irrelevant since the answer is always no.

It always seems that way doesn't it :stupid:

YIMBY = YES
NIMBY = NO

As you all know by now, my family and I have been in SoBo since forever and a day. Nobody gave two s**t's what was on Key Hwy before this became a desirable neighborhood, but all of a sudden they do. As a matter of fact, we used to call Key Hwy., "Rat Run". It was a game we played to count how many rats we saw. I'm one of the "old timers" who's all for development. As a matter of fact, it was while I was in 9th grade at the now defunked Southern High School, that I became fascinated with skyscrapers while watching the construction of the Harborview tower.

While its nice to think of how things used to be in this neighborhood in the late 19th and through the 20th century, its now the early 21st, and its high time the NIMBY's realized it!

Islamic art museum set to open in downtown
Center will also house a mosque and a library
By Glenn McNatt
Sun Art Critic
Originally published July 22, 2005

A new museum of Islamic art and culture will open in December in downtown Baltimore as part of an effort by Maryland Muslims to promote greater understanding of their religion in the aftermath of attacks such as this month's bombing of the London subway.

Plans for the museum, to be called the American Museum of Islamic Arts, will be announced during a launch today of a new Islamic community center inside a former bank building at 240 N. Howard St. Mayor Martin O'Malley is expected to be on hand for the 1:45 p.m. ceremony.

The center will serve as a mosque for Muslims who live or work downtown, as well as house the museum and a library where the public can learn more about the Islamic faith.

"We want to build a positive image of Islam and Muslims," said Ghazal Chughtai, the center's executive director. "It's clear we still have a lot of work to do."

The mosque is on the Islamic center's ground floor and the museum and library will occupy the two upper stories. Eventually, the center will also open a free health-care clinic and a shelter for battered women, Chughtai said.

The building, located at the corner of Howard and Saratoga streets, was built in 1904 as the Provident Savings Bank. Its present owner, Ahmed Adam, bought the property about 10 years ago and is leasing it over the next two years to the mosque and community center for $1 a month.

Ronald Kreitner, executive director of WestSide Renaissance, a nonprofit group that works to foster redevelopment in the neighborhood, said a museum of Islamic art and culture could fit in well with long-term efforts to revive the area.

"Museums and other attractions are an integral part of the Westside plan," Kreitner said. "If it makes good use of a building, it would be a welcome addition."

Most of the new museum's collection will be donated by private citizens or loaned from other institutions, said Shahab Qarni of the Maryland Muslim Council, which co-sponsored the center with the Islamic Society of Baltimore. Baltimore's Muslim population numbers more than 10,000, according to 2000 census figures.

"We're doing this in downtown because it's close to the convention center and it's a tourist attraction," Qarni said.

He added that the museum, which has been promised 2,000 pieces by a private collector, will have 9,000 square feet of exhibition space and a staff of three. Eventually its holdings are expected to include examples of traditional and contemporary artworks from Muslim communities around the world.

"Islam is one religion, but each culture is different," Chughtai said. "We are working with everyone to get artworks, including the Baltimore Jewish community. We have Egyptians, Moroccans, Pakistanis and many others, and we will exhibit works from all these cultures in the museum."

Currently, Baltimore's largest collection of Islamic art is at the Walters Art Museum, which owns excellent examples of Islamic manuscripts, calligraphy, ceramics, glass, jewelry and textiles, said Walters curator Regine Schulz.

Schulz welcomed the new museum as a counter to the negative stereotypes of Muslims that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and the recent bombings in London.

"Islamic art and culture help us understand that Muslims have a very special interest and feeling for spiritual beauty," Schulz said. "If you are a good Muslim, you're interested in the beautiful expression of the religion - in its calligraphy or architecture, for example."

Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon that runs counter to the tenets of every religion, including Islam, Schulz said.

"Islamic art never depicts the ugly, disrespectful or evil," she added. "That would be against their idea that art should show the beauty of the religion."

Sun staff writer Jill Rosen contributed to this article.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/graphic/2005-07/18601051.gif

interesting.

very interesting. i can't wait to take a look it when it opens.

Islamic art museum set to open in downtown
Center will also house a mosque and a library

http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/graphic/2005-07/18601051.gif

This is a really nice building. I'd love to see Howard St. become a destination again, because the buildings on it are gorgous.

Once again though, I feel being as it as a mosque/islamic art museum, I'm not really that interested in going there. It seems like everything built these days are too niche to appeal to the overall public in general.
just my opinion :-P

Once again though, I feel being as it as a mosque/islamic art museum, I'm not really that interested in going there. It seems like everything built these days are too niche to appeal to the overall public in general.
just my opinion :-P

I agree with you 100%. The buildings along the Howard Street corridor are wonderful and are just begging to be restored. Im fine with the museum. It may be niche, but with all do respect, not everything in every city is for everyone. With that said, I'll probably never go there, but I'd rather see the building used as an cultural attraction rather than urine and garbage attraction.

I agree with you 100%. The buildings along the Howard Street corridor are wonderful and are just begging to be restored. Im fine with the museum. It may be niche, but with all do respect, not everything in every city is for everyone. With that said, I'll probably never go there, but I'd rather see the building used as an cultural attraction rather than urine and garbage attraction.
While I’m glad the Islamic Cultural Center is opening up on Howard Street, I keep waiting and hoping someone will take over and renovate the old Hutzler “Palace” building a few doors south. With the old Hecht-May building converted to apartments, and the old Stewarts department store to be soon occupied by Catholic Charities, all that is left of the big buildings is Hutzlers…

So are The Sun graphic artists getting lazy? According to the graphic, I noticed Baltimore has a new artery running East-West through downtown: Route 4!

Developer touts his hotel plan
As the idea of a 100 percent publicly financed convention headquarters hotel is batted around the Baltimore City Council, one developer claims his plan would save taxpayers millions of dollars. Ray Garfield, principal of Garfield Traub Development LLC of Texas, said his team's initial bid to the city would have required less public subsidy than the No. 1 choice. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and the Baltimore Development Corp. have backed a proposal by Black Entertainment founder Robert L. Johnson to build a 750-room Hilton on a city-owned site outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Under that plan, Johnson would not front any of the money for the development along Pratt Street. The city, however, would be required to use $305 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the hotel, which advocates believe is needed to bring larger conventions to Baltimore. "The $305 million price tag is likely $100 million higher than it could or should be," Garfield wrote in an e-mail to the Baltimore Business Journal. Garfield, whose "Believe Team" participated in the bidding process spearheaded by the Baltimore Development Corp., said his group's two plans -- one for the city site and the other for an alternative property -- would have required between $200 million and $220 million each in bonds. And, he said, the alternative site that his group proposed -- along Conway Street behind the Sheraton -- was more cost effective. "Our site is in a better location that does not demand underground parking, which is a very expensive requirement of the city's current site. Our site would simply expand on the structured parking already serving the Sheraton and the convention center," Garfield wrote. The "Believe Team" includes Willard Hackerman, CEO of Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., local developer Otis Warren, Baltimore architect Peter Fillat and Garfield Traub. Negotiations between bidding developers and the Baltimore Development Corp. were largely done behind closed doors, with the financial aspects of all the proposals undisclosed.

Baltimore developer Patrick Turner is one of many businesspeople interested in redeveloping the 182-acre General Motors Corp. site off Broening Highway -- home to a minivan manufacturing plant until earlier this year.
Since the plant closed in May, General Motors has moved forward with initial plans to sell the property where 1,100 employees worked. The potential sale could be one of the biggest in the region and could pit industrial interests against those pushing redevelopment along Baltimore's waterfront. John McDonald, a GM spokesman, said although the company has not decided officially to sell the property in Southeast Baltimore, it is testing the market and soliciting bids that are due in early August. "There are dozens of organizations interested in the site," he told the Baltimore Business Journal this week. Turner said he is one of those people. "I really can't talk about it," he said. "I'm chasing it. It's a crowded field out there." The Baltimore developer has experience converting industrial properties into residential uses. He is in the midst of molding the former Archer Daniels Midland property in Locust Point into a mixed-use project that will include condos and townhomes. McDonald said building residential units on the GM property, which includes 3.2 million square feet of manufacturing space, could be difficult but not impossible. "It's industrial all around there," he said. "On face value, it doesn't lend itself to that type of development."
Aris Melissaratos, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, has asked GM to donate the land to the state.
The state is interested in opening a research and development facility on that site.
Although McDonald said that request remains an option, real estate sources familiar with the deal said GM is unlikely to give the land away.
With the strong private interest, a donation would be very surprising, the sources said.
In fact, they said, GM expects to close on a sale by the end of the year.
McDonald declined to discuss any kind of time frame, but did say the evaluation of the Broening Highway land is being fast-tracked.
When asked why GM is moving quickly, McDonald said the state is interested, the community wants jobs to return quickly and private interest is very high.
Robert L. Hannon, assistant secretary for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, could not be reached for comment.

Developer touts his hotel plan
As the idea of a 100 percent publicly financed convention headquarters hotel is batted around the Baltimore City Council, one developer claims his plan would save taxpayers millions of dollars. Ray Garfield, principal of Garfield Traub Development LLC of Texas, said his team's initial bid to the city would have required less public subsidy than the No. 1 choice. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and the Baltimore Development Corp. have backed a proposal by Black Entertainment founder Robert L. Johnson to build a 750-room Hilton on a city-owned site outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Under that plan, Johnson would not front any of the money for the development along Pratt Street. The city, however, would be required to use $305 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the hotel, which advocates believe is needed to bring larger conventions to Baltimore. "The $305 million price tag is likely $100 million higher than it could or should be," Garfield wrote in an e-mail to the Baltimore Business Journal. Garfield, whose "Believe Team" participated in the bidding process spearheaded by the Baltimore Development Corp., said his group's two plans -- one for the city site and the other for an alternative property -- would have required between $200 million and $220 million each in bonds. And, he said, the alternative site that his group proposed -- along Conway Street behind the Sheraton -- was more cost effective. "Our site is in a better location that does not demand underground parking, which is a very expensive requirement of the city's current site. Our site would simply expand on the structured parking already serving the Sheraton and the convention center," Garfield wrote. The "Believe Team" includes Willard Hackerman, CEO of Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., local developer Otis Warren, Baltimore architect Peter Fillat and Garfield Traub. Negotiations between bidding developers and the Baltimore Development Corp. were largely done behind closed doors, with the financial aspects of all the proposals undisclosed.


I'm beginning to think that this initial hotel deal is about to take an about-face swing. this hotel should've already started breaking ground by now. The RLJ/Quadrangle plan's not gonna' happen. I'm almost certain of it now. If the city council has to do that much debating, there's something wrong with that picture. We're talkin' about a MAJOR east coast city that's NEVER had a deficit with NONE of the hotels that's been built thus far.

^I agree, its time to drop RLJ's project and go on with the Hackerman proposal. Its what they should have done a long time ago and it makes more sense.

What were the initial reasons for choosing the RLJ proposal in the first place? Perhaps they did not want a repeat of all the other projects of the time - defaulting due to lack of private funds? I don't know.

What were the initial reasons for choosing the RLJ proposal in the first place? Perhaps they did not want a repeat of all the other projects of the time - defaulting due to lack of private funds? I don't know.

Personally, I think O'Malley's reason for choosing RLJ's proposal was to ensure that minority ownership plays a part in the redeveloping of downtown. Now, i applaud O'Malley's efforts and the fact that minority ownerhships are going to play a significant part in the revamping of downtown is all fine & good, but like Brian21 just said, the hackerman deal makes more logical sense. If i'm not mistaken, hackerman's ORIGINAL proposal on peter fillat's website about two years ago was to put a 43-story hotel right behind the sheraton and on the two parking lots that border camden yards, a 19,000-seat arena was going to be put there. That would've killed 2 birds with 1 stone if u ask me being that there's been several talks on how long the 1st mariner arena is going to continue to host events before it's eventually torn down. that would've looked GREAT!!!

What were the initial reasons for choosing the RLJ proposal in the first place? Perhaps they did not want a repeat of all the other projects of the time - defaulting due to lack of private funds? I don't know.

I wouldn't doubt if it were all politics. It's like hey Marty, I know you're running for governor. Pick me and I've got a big fat check just for you. JMO!

Baltimore developer Patrick Turner is one of many businesspeople interested in redeveloping the 182-acre General Motors Corp. site off Broening Highway -- home to a minivan manufacturing plant until earlier this year.
Since the plant closed in May, General Motors has moved forward with initial plans to sell the property where 1,100 employees worked. The potential sale could be one of the biggest in the region and could pit industrial interests against those pushing redevelopment along Baltimore's waterfront. John McDonald, a GM spokesman, said although the company has not decided officially to sell the property in Southeast Baltimore, it is testing the market and soliciting bids that are due in early August. "There are dozens of organizations interested in the site," he told the Baltimore Business Journal this week. Turner said he is one of those people. "I really can't talk about it," he said. "I'm chasing it. It's a crowded field out there." The Baltimore developer has experience converting industrial properties into residential uses. He is in the midst of molding the former Archer Daniels Midland property in Locust Point into a mixed-use project that will include condos and townhomes. McDonald said building residential units on the GM property, which includes 3.2 million square feet of manufacturing space, could be difficult but not impossible. "It's industrial all around there," he said. "On face value, it doesn't lend itself to that type of development."
Aris Melissaratos, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, has asked GM to donate the land to the state.
The state is interested in opening a research and development facility on that site.
Although McDonald said that request remains an option, real estate sources familiar with the deal said GM is unlikely to give the land away.
With the strong private interest, a donation would be very surprising, the sources said.
In fact, they said, GM expects to close on a sale by the end of the year.
McDonald declined to discuss any kind of time frame, but did say the evaluation of the Broening Highway land is being fast-tracked.
When asked why GM is moving quickly, McDonald said the state is interested, the community wants jobs to return quickly and private interest is very high.
Robert L. Hannon, assistant secretary for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, could not be reached for comment.

Here's a wild idea, why not build an amusement park there complete with roller coasters, tacky shopping stores, eateries and other interesting atractions with live entertainment as well? :D :D :D
It would be yet another selling point for Baltimore.
That, or try to lure new industry there....... :)

Not residential. IMO. :D

Here's a wild idea, why not build an amusement park there complete with roller coasters, tacky shopping stores, eateries and other interesting atractions with live entertainment as well? :D :D :D
It would be yet another selling point for Baltimore.
That, or try to lure new industry there....... :)

Not residential. IMO. :D

Hmm...could that work?? There used to be an abundance of amusement parks around here, most notably Gwynn Oak and Enchanted Forrest. My parents have told of their childhood summers spent at Gwynn Oak which closed at least 35 years ago. Enchanted Forrest lasted until the late 80's or early 90's. I went there a lot as a kid both with my parents and on elementary school trips. I'm with ya Steven! Let's have a Coney Island type amusement park!

Well I guess we'll soon be seeing tower cranes over at 800 Aliceanna Street. I drove pass and noticed the base of the first tower crane erected

Awesome! 800 Aliceanna is supposed to be 28 flrs right? I believe its suppose to be about the height of Marriot, correct me if I'm wrong. This will be the first tall tower in 5 yrs for Baltimore. The last one was the neighboring Marriott Waterfront tower which was completed in 2000. Man I loved getting out of school and seeing them building that tower across the harbor. :)

While I’m glad the Islamic Cultural Center is opening up on Howard Street, I keep waiting and hoping someone will take over and renovate the old Hutzler “Palace” building a few doors south. With the old Hecht-May building converted to apartments, and the old Stewarts department store to be soon occupied by Catholic Charities, all that is left of the big buildings is Hutzlers…

So are The Sun graphic artists getting lazy? According to the graphic, I noticed Baltimore has a new artery running East-West through downtown: Route 4!

While were at it, we ought to prevail on the State to improve the appearence of the "newer" Hutzler's building. It's quite an attractive "modern" building but DHR has made it look like a hidden fortress. As is it almost looks abandoned. A pressure wash, street-front windows and opening up the sealed doors would help to improve the look of Howard St. With the Stewart's building finally finding a tenant, things will begin to look up along that block.

Hmm...could that work?? There used to be an abundance of amusement parks around here, most notably Gwynn Oak and Enchanted Forrest. My parents have told of their childhood summers spent at Gwynn Oak which closed at least 35 years ago. Enchanted Forrest lasted until the late 80's or early 90's. I went there a lot as a kid both with my parents and on elementary school trips. I'm with ya Steven! Let's have a Coney Island type amusement park!

We might be missing the boat here. Remember how JD Rockefeller's guys managed to convince Americans that Williamsburg Va in colonial times was a haven for luxury and good taste with air conditioned buildings, lots of boxwoods, clean food, no bugs, happy slaves, sewage disposal and no animal waste. If they could pull that off, we might be able to have a "old-timey" industrial theme park where tourists could sleep in little formstone rowhouses, eat crabs all the time, drink cheap but good beer, cheer for the Baltimore Colts and Johhny U, work in steel mills, iron foundries and car factories and learn to speak Bawlmerese. It just might catch on, a Baltimore Museum inside the real Baltimore.