Baltimore Development News

[i_am_hydrogen]

The other thread was so ungodly huge that I figured it was time for a new one.

Here's a link to the previous thread:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=552279

[MarkR01]

to start out this new thread, do you think baltimore is putting too many redevelopment ideas on its plate? I think not, but do you think that it could give false hope to slated neighborhood and cause unwanted speculation?

[Eerik]

I haven't had the time to look at any of the Baltimore papers lately to see if this has already been reported, but Carnival Cruise Lines will begin year-round service from the Port of Baltimore in 2009.

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by MarkR01

to start out this new thread, do you think baltimore is putting too many redevelopment ideas on its plate? I think not, but do you think that it could give false hope to slated neighborhood and cause unwanted speculation?

Nah. Not enough ... check out Spence Lean's list of places that could stand some redevelopment ideas ...

http://baltimorefuture.blogspot.com/...t-part-ii.html

[MtVernator]

[QUOTE=MarkR01;21471095]to start out this new thread, do you think baltimore is putting too many redevelopment ideas on its plate? I think not, but do you think that it could give false hope to slated neighborhood and cause unwanted speculation?[/QUOTE

I say the more the better. Hopefully that will increase buzz and the chances of some of those projects actually being completed.

[scando]

[QUOTE=MtVernator;21492685]

Originally Posted by MarkR01

to start out this new thread, do you think baltimore is putting too many redevelopment ideas on its plate? I think not, but do you think that it could give false hope to slated neighborhood and cause unwanted speculation?[/QUOTE

I say the more the better. Hopefully that will increase buzz and the chances of some of those projects actually being completed.

In a word..no. Baltimore hasn't been the kind of city that ever seems to go overboard in speculative development. That's a plus and a minus but you don't often see developers putting up office buildings or condos assuming that the market will materialize. I recall hearing a story about 25000 vacant condos in Miami and almost that many more under construction. In Baltimore, we don't seem to build unless buyers are lined up at the door.

[DemolitionDave]

Yeah it is/was bullets. We had to inspect it when we blew up the projects near there. We also had to inspect the Post Office. It's pretty cool inside there. They work 24/7 and we couldn't interrupt them.

[chromebowler]

An excerpt from an email from a Green Line program director:

Rather than fund final design and construction of both (Red and Green lines) projects from State revenue, MTA has elected apply for funding through Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) New Starts program. This means meeting the criteria established by FTA to get up to 50% matching funds. The new starts program is very competitive, with over 200 projects considered each fiscal year.

From its inception, the Green Line identified a station at Madison Square to connect to the MARC Penn Line. This line would link to light rail at Penn Station, and if fully funded according to FTA guidelines, a Red Line Station at Bayview.

We are taking the same care and consideration in the Green Line Planning. This approach was operative for the Red Line as well, and is on-going. It is frustrating and sometimes unnerving, but that is the chosen path and charge led by the State’s elected official. Contrary to the articles published by local recent newspapers, this project is still on track and will soon be considered for further funding by FTA after the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is fully reviewed and made final. So, please stay tuned and join in, if you can.

[Darryl]

I liked this from the link Jamie Hunt posted:

http://www.archplan.com/writing_parking%20garages.html

"But if you thought that after one garage with a water view, another terminating the view of one of Baltimore’s great boulevards (the Little Italy garage at the corner of Pratt and President Streets), and one cheek to jowl with the Baroque revival style City Hall, we would have learned that parking garages kill historic buildings and deaden urban space, think again. Along comes what might just be the greatest garage debacle of all: A full block garage at the southern downtown gateway of Charles and Light Streets.

Why is a garage in this location so bad?

It ruins the Charles Street gateway: Everybody wants to get the millions of tourists that cling to the water’s edge at the Inner Harbor to visit downtown and spread their dollars around to businesses a bit removed from Harbor Place. The premier northward coordinate to do so is Charles Street, our premier downtown street. To place an enormous parking garage at this all-important gateway to downtown will be like symbolically turning the City’s back to visitors, aggressively discouraging pedestrians who might make the brave attempt to walk up Charles Street from the water’s edge.
It tears down old buildings: People who see downtown Baltimore often observe that much of our architecture is beautiful. One could argue about the historic value of the buildings that have to come down for the garage but they certainly are part of a sliver of old Baltimore sitting quaintly in front of the towers of urban renewal . An above-ground garage is certainly no better alternative, no matter how artfully the façade is done. Crossing driveways and listening to the cars mounting the ramps has never been an attraction for pedestrians!
It sits in the middle of already existing parking garages; in fact, all of Lombard Street appears to be garage and service gates.
It’s a garage in full view. “Good” structured parking is underground like at the Gallery building or wrapped like the new garage on Caroline Street which is faced with townhouses.
Transportation Policy: Visitors who swoon over our architecture often observe that there are no people in the streets and few stores to buy something."


I couldn't agree more with this.

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by Darryl

...
http://www.archplan.com/writing_parking%20garages.html ...

Good stuff. For some reason, though, parking garages don't bug me, and I'm fanatical about historic architecture. The way I figure it, in thirty years or less most'll make way for new offices and housing, or they'll be adapted to house the factories of the future ...

http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/06/see...evolution.html

Garages are useful placeholders.

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by DemolitionDave

Yeah it is/was bullets. We had to inspect it when we blew up the projects near there. We also had to inspect the Post Office. It's pretty cool inside there. They work 24/7 and we couldn't interrupt them.

Could be a connection between the Shot Tower's broken windows and its proximity to the post office:

http://tvsothertenpercent.tripod.com/seinfeld.html

Jerry: What do you do for a living, Newman?
Newman: I'm a United States Postal Worker.
Jerry: Aren't those the guys that always go crazy and come back with a gun and shoot everybody?
Newman: Sometimes.
Jerry: Why is that?
Newman: Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming, there's never a let-up. It's relentless. Every day it piles up more and more and more! And you gotta get it out, but the more you get it out the more it keeps coming in. And then the bar code reader breaks and it's Publisher's Clearing House day!

[StevenW]

300 east pratt.

From this website: http://baltimorefuture.blogspot.com/...t-part-ii.html

[PeterSmith]

Did anybody else go to the opening of the Bromo Seltzer artist studios last night? It was mobbed all night and was really cool. There are some really talented artists there, and the view from the top is probably the best I've ever seen with my own eyes. I climbed out the window onto the balcony just below the clock face. The view of South Baltimore is breathtaking, and even the new Hilton doesn't look so bad from up there. I recommend a trip to you all.

[StevenW]

Originally Posted by PeterSmith

Did anybody else go to the opening of the Bromo Seltzer artist studios last night? It was mobbed all night and was really cool. There are some really talented artists there, and the view from the top is probably the best I've ever seen with my own eyes. I climbed out the window onto the balcony just below the clock face. The view of South Baltimore is breathtaking, and even the new Hilton doesn't look so bad from up there. I recommend a trip to you all.

No pix? No camera?

[scando]

Originally Posted by PeterSmith

Did anybody else go to the opening of the Bromo Seltzer artist studios last night? It was mobbed all night and was really cool. There are some really talented artists there, and the view from the top is probably the best I've ever seen with my own eyes. I climbed out the window onto the balcony just below the clock face. The view of South Baltimore is breathtaking, and even the new Hilton doesn't look so bad from up there. I recommend a trip to you all.

Are artist's spaces large enough to be useful? Are they working there or using it as gallery space? I will have to get there sometime; with nothing real big too close, I imagine that the view must be great. Is the balcony open or did you get out there on-the-sly?

[Balmurfan]

Constellation Energy Group Inc., Baltimore's largest public company, is close to signing a deal for as much as 100,000 square feet of additional office space in the city, according to real estate brokers and others familiar with the deal.

The utility company, based at 750 E. Pratt St. downtown, is scouting space at the Verizon Building at 1 E. Pratt St., the Bank of America Building at 100 S. Charles St. and Montgomery Park at 1800 Washington Blvd., said Manekin LLC broker Matt Haas, who is familiar with Constellation's search. Constellation is outgrowing its offices at 750 E. Pratt and in the Candler Building at 111 Market Place, where the company also is angling for more space.

Kirby Fowler, president of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc., said Constellation could sign a deal soon, but he declined to comment on a specific location. Regardless of where Constellation takes more space, the bottom line is the Fortune 500 company is planning to bring more jobs to downtown and boost its presence in Baltimore, Fowler said.

"It's positive that Constellation continues to expand in downtown," he said. "It's reason to celebrate."

[Balmurfan]

Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. is in negotiations to build a 140,000-square-foot warehouse at its Chesapeake Commerce Center for an undisclosed frozen foods distribution firm, according to Baltimore city planning documents.

The deal would generate about 100 truck deliveries a day at the former General Motors Corp. plant on Broening Highway and would be a significant transaction for Duke Realty in a slow but steady market for Greater Baltimore's industrial buildings.

Duke already is constructing a pair of flex buildings at the industrial park, including a 117,000-square-foot building to be partially occupied by Johns Hopkins' Home Care Group and a vacant, 344,167-square foot warehouse.

John Macsherry, vice president of development at leasing for Duke's regional operations, declined to comment on the potential deal.

[StevenW]

Originally Posted by Balmurfan

Constellation Energy Group Inc., Baltimore's largest public company, is close to signing a deal for as much as 100,000 square feet of additional office space in the city, according to real estate brokers and others familiar with the deal.

The utility company, based at 750 E. Pratt St. downtown, is scouting space at the Verizon Building at 1 E. Pratt St., the Bank of America Building at 100 S. Charles St. and Montgomery Park at 1800 Washington Blvd., said Manekin LLC broker Matt Haas, who is familiar with Constellation's search. Constellation is outgrowing its offices at 750 E. Pratt and in the Candler Building at 111 Market Place, where the company also is angling for more space.

Kirby Fowler, president of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc., said Constellation could sign a deal soon, but he declined to comment on a specific location. Regardless of where Constellation takes more space, the bottom line is the Fortune 500 company is planning to bring more jobs to downtown and boost its presence in Baltimore, Fowler said.

"It's positive that Constellation continues to expand in downtown," he said. "It's reason to celebrate."

Encouraging news, indeed.

[k25150]

Originally Posted by Balmurfan

Constellation Energy Group Inc., Baltimore's largest public company, is close to signing a deal for as much as 100,000 square feet of additional office space in the city, according to real estate brokers and others familiar with the deal.

The utility company, based at 750 E. Pratt St. downtown, is scouting space at the Verizon Building at 1 E. Pratt St., the Bank of America Building at 100 S. Charles St. and Montgomery Park at 1800 Washington Blvd., said Manekin LLC broker Matt Haas, who is familiar with Constellation's search. Constellation is outgrowing its offices at 750 E. Pratt and in the Candler Building at 111 Market Place, where the company also is angling for more space.

Kirby Fowler, president of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc., said Constellation could sign a deal soon, but he declined to comment on a specific location. Regardless of where Constellation takes more space, the bottom line is the Fortune 500 company is planning to bring more jobs to downtown and boost its presence in Baltimore, Fowler said.

"It's positive that Constellation continues to expand in downtown," he said. "It's reason to celebrate."

I'm surprised O'Malley hasn't chased them out of town yet.

[DrzBrooklynChulo90]

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