Baltimore Development News 21

[30 Floors Up]

PONDER, PONDER, PONDER.

I found it interesting that on the list that the BBJ published about the 15 new hotes that are to open soon, they listed the Brookshire CityScape. Hmm. What IS the hold up with this project? That block of Calvert Street has become a real eye sore.

~~~~~

Downtown was PACKED on Saturday and there were no visiting Red Sox or Yankee fans. I'll say it again, the city needs to get busy fixing Pratt Street. BTW, there are a bunch of new sculptures on McKelden Plaza. Also, the fountain in front of the Federal Building behind the Mechanic works just fine.

~~~~~

Did you catch the blurb in the Sun about the United Arab Emerates delegation at the the Marriott? FYI, it is costing them $5,000 a night at the hotel and they spent just less than $10,000 on flowers at Valley View Farms. So, $5,000 x 90 days = $450,000 for a hotel bill. Damn! I get upset when they charge me $5 for a beer from the mini-bar!

[Tricia_Lvs_Baltimore]

Tell me about it!

[jamie_hunt]

Good grief! That's the largest smiley (non-smiling division) I've ever seen. Too much beer, methinks

[30 Floors Up]

You, me, or it? LOL

[GodricVT]

Originally Posted by Maudibjr

Looks like there is still a tree growing in the top. I thought that they had been fixing this building for a while?

They're definitely still "working":



I think I took that on Thursday. Actually, I think these guys were painting or plastering judging by the ladders and their all-whites. Probably needed a breath of fresh air, which worked out pretty well for my photo.

[Silver Springer]

Development in city defies housing slump

Cheap land, subsidies yield hot-selling affordable new homes

By Lorraine Mirabella | Sun reporter
August 17, 2007

The new townhouses in Northeast Baltimore will offer designer fixtures, master suites and, on some models, bay windows and porches, all centered on parks, playgrounds and a clubhouse with a fitness room.

Not so different from any other new home developments except for this: Most of the homes in the first phase of the Towns at Orchard Ridge, a $118 million 467-unit community near Belair-Edison, have sold since going on the market in July.

The boom comes at a time when builders of new homes here and across the nation are reporting plunging sales and existing homes are languishing on the market.

Since the first batch of 72 townhouses went on sale July 5, buyers have snatched up 56, according to developers Pennrose Properties and Doracon Development, who say they've hit a nerve in pent-up demand for relatively affordable new homes.

Townhouses at Orchard Ridge range from $135,490 to $246,990 for income-qualified buyers and from $254,990 to $274,990 with no maximum income requirement. Buyers can also get closing cost assistance.

The estimated median price of a new home in Maryland, at $435,528, is among the highest in the nation, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

"We've been amazed by the sales pace," said Kyle F. Speece, a development officer for Pennrose as he looked out over the 59-acre site where bulldozers have begun work. "We really found a niche."

No other new, single-family houses in the city with comparable amenities are currently selling in that price range, said Cynthia Newman-Lynch, interim assistant commissioner for development projects for the city's Department of Housing and Community Development.

"Given today's market, that's extraordinary," Newman-Lynch said of the sales pace.

High land costs are a big reason new home prices in the area are so high, said Anirban Basu, president and chief executive of Sage Policy Group, an economic research firm in Baltimore.

"Many homebuilders will tell you that if they were able to supply housing at price points less than $300,000, they could make sales all day long," said Basu. "However, with suburban land being so expensive, it is effectively impossible to supply much housing at those price points."

The developers of Orchard Ridge didn't have to contend with land costs: They got the ground under lease from the city. As units settle, titles will transfer to the buyers.

In addition, Pennrose and Doracon are able to sell some of the lower-priced homes for less than it cost to build them thanks to more than $2.1 million in subsidies from the city's Home program and a federal Housing and Urban Development grant to Baltimore's housing authority.

A mix of city and state programs is available to help buyers with down payments and closing costs, along with closing cost help from the developers.

Speece said he does not expect the implosion of the market for subprime mortgages to affect Orchard Ridge sales.

The project's lenders, approved by the state Community Development Association's Maryland Mortgage Program, already have stringent loan standards for buyers, he said. Borrowers must have good credit and meet income guidelines to get the loans, which are typically offered with interest rates slightly below market rate.

Baltimore officials awarded the right to develop the city-owned Orchard Ridge site to the Pennrose/Doracon team in May 2005 after issuing a request for proposals for affordable new homes.

The site, bounded by Sinclair Lane, Erdman Avenue, Federal Street and Archbishop Curley High School, had for decades been the site of Claremont Homes, a public housing project, and Freedom Village. The two complexes had about 700 apartments.

The first townhouses to go on sale include both larger, market-rate homes, with three bedrooms and an optional fourth, and the smaller subsidized homes for those who qualify. Residents can start moving in next spring.

Aaron Hippolyte, a 30-year-old Washington special-education teacher who owns a condo in the capital but who often travels to Baltimore, had been in the market for a townhouse with some yard space. A friend noticed the signs at Orchard Ridge and let Hippolyte know.

"The major thrust for me was the affordability," he said. "I couldn't find anything within reason in Washington, D.C., to my liking. In my area of Southeast, D.C., you pay $380,000 for a brand new townhouse - that's a hundred thousand dollar difference.

"I like the Belair Edison area quite a bit. For the price and the access to 895 and I-95 and not far from downtown, I felt I couldn't beat the price," said Hippolyte, who is paying $270,000 for a three-bedroom home and three levels and a basement.

The developers are to soon embark on another, bigger housing development in Baltimore. Late last month, city officials chose Pennrose and a team that also includes Doracon to transform the nearly 100-acre site of Southwest Baltimore's aging Uplands apartment complex into a $200 million development with 1,100 apartments, houses and condominiums. About 800 of them will be affordable and market-rate homes.

Anna Custer, executive director of Live Baltimore, a nonprofit group that promotes city living, said the center often gets inquiries about affordable homes. She said it makes sense that the Orchard Ridge is selling fast because of the price ranges. "When you have a trifecta of the city and state and developer working together, it can be a great win-win," Custer said.

The sales boom at Orchard Ridge stands in stark contrast to the slump plaguing many of the nation's new- home builders. Sales of new single-family homes fell 6.6 percent in June, the biggest drop since January. Big national homebuilders - including Pulte Homes Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. - are reporting losses and are cutting prices.

In Maryland, some builders and developers are holding off on projects or rethinking their strategy to bring starting prices down, either by renegotiating lot prices with land sellers or scaling back on amenities, said Chris Rachuba, president of the Home Builders Association of Maryland.

"What I'm finding is the $600,000 to $1 million range has slowed a lot, but as in anything, price will sell," said Rachuba, whose Eldersburg company, the Rachuba Group, specializes in custom homes. "I really think the affordable housing is moving."

Tiffany Hughes, a rehabilitation therapist who has signed a contract on a three-bedroom model at Orchard Ridge, said she jumped at the chance to get a new house in her price range for $236,000.

The single mother of a 9-year-old son will also get the chance to return to the site of her childhood home - Freedom Village. She recalls growing up in a working-class, family-oriented community surrounded by woods and space for children to play. Hughes, who is currently renting, hopes to provide a similar environment for her son.

Hughes had been disappointed in the selection of homes on the market in her price range. At Orchard Ridge, "for the price that they were offering these homes and getting a brand-new house with brand-new appliances and brand- new everything, it made sense."

[Gsol]

[QUOTE=30 Floors Up;14884625] PONDER, PONDER, PONDER.

I found it interesting that on the list that the BBJ published about the 15 new hotes that are to open soon, they listed the Brookshire CityScape. Hmm. What IS the hold up with this project? That block of Calvert Street has become a real eye sore.

~~~~~

Is it possible to post this article from the BBJ? If not can someone supply more detail like the hotel names and locations? Also room totals if known. Wasn't their supposed to be a Westin constructed at Harbor Point?

[30 Floors Up]

Sorry Gsol, I don't have an electronic subscription to the BBJ. I get my paper copy at Eddie's in Mt. Vernon, though someone has been beating me to them recently (they only get 3 BBJ's). For the past 3 weeks I've had to go to all the way down to Harbor News to get my fix.

They had another article of interest in this week's issue. They stated that One Charles Center has only about 30,000 square feet left to lease before it is at full ocupancy. One Charles Center is 290,000 square feet large and was almost empty when Peter Angelos purchased it a few year back. Now it is just about full.

[jamie_hunt]

Cityscape developer Mark Sapperstein seems more focused on McHenry Row in Locust Point, which is moving ahead smartly. Cityscape has more moving parts (multiple parcels, closing city streets, preservation issues) to deal with, which may help explain the lag. DemolitionDave alluded to tearing down the Brookshire (built out of a former parking garage) as part of the project, so maybe he has some more insight.

[30 Floors Up]

Originally Posted by jamie_hunt

Cityscape developer Mark Sapperstein seems more focused on McHenry Row in Locust Point, which is moving ahead smartly. Cityscape has more moving parts (multiple parcels, closing city streets, preservation issues) to deal with, which may help explain the lag. DemolitionDave alluded to tearing down the Brookshire (built out of a former parking garage) as part of the project, so maybe he has some more insight.

We all have our roles on this board. You post links. Steven and others e-mail, and I take pictures.

Perhaps we can get someone to e-mail the "Contact" listed on the BDC's web site and ask - WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH CITYSCAPE? (in a nicer way of course - that's why I don't e-mail). the address listed is: kari@28walker.com

[Balmurfan]

does anyone have any rederings of cityscape?

[southbalto]

They were putting the Starbucks sign up today at the Vue. Another restaurant Cigcinale [s?] is going in Spinnaker Bay.


Hey so there is some activity just north of the Marriott Waterfront. Any ideas whats going in there?

[BaltoSteve]

Interesting article fromn todays sun. Not that long ago an inn here would have been unthinkable a block from the Flag House Hi Rises. Also on coffee place news...The Daily Grind has a sign up on their new location in the old firehouse on Canton Square.
\

baltimoresun.com
Jewel in Jonestown
A new downtown inn opens in the restored estate that was once home to the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence

Edward Gunts

Architecture

August 20, 2007
Click here to find out more!

From a secluded garden in downtown Baltimore, shaded by four ailanthus trees, there's hardly any sense of the high-rise office buildings several blocks away or the traffic whizzing by on the Jones Falls Expressway.

The garden once bordered the estate owned in the early 19th century by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Much later, it became part of the Baltimore City Life Museums campus, a public attraction that told the story of Baltimore's history before the museums closed abruptly in 1997.

Now it has blossomed again, as part of a new development that aims to bring the property back to life, while sparking improvements to the surrounding area.

The garden is one of two outdoor courtyards at the 1840s Carrollton Inn, a 13-room, $2 million bed-and-breakfast operation that opened this month in three of the old City Life buildings at 50 Albemarle St. in historic Jonestown.

It's the final step in the transformation of the City Life property to a mixed-use destination that contains museums, a restaurant, meeting space and luxury guest rooms.

"We're finally open," said Anne Pomykala, head of the 1840s Corp., the group that has been building the inn at 50 Albemarle St. for the past 2 1/2 years. "We received our occupancy permit two weeks ago, and we've had full houses for the past two weekends. We're trying to make our mark."

Initial guests have included a wedding party, parents taking their kids back to college, business travelers and baseball fans staying downtown after a game at Oriole Park. Many found the inn on the Internet (1840scarrolltoninn.com). A grand opening will be held Oct. 4.

Pomykala also runs the 21-year-old Gramercy Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Green Spring Valley and was selected to transform the former City Life properties after competing in a public bidding process nine years ago.

At that time, the city housing department sought proposals for the museum properties and selected a partnership headed by Pomykala to oversee the revitalization. Pomykala proposed maintaining the Carroll Mansion and the Phoenix Shot Tower as public museums and creating an inn and meeting facility in other buildings formerly occupied by the City Life Museums.

Built about 1808 at 800 E. Lombard St., the mansion was Carroll's wintertime residence from 1820 to 1832. Born in Annapolis in 1737, Carroll was a lawyer, politician and businessman who was an influential patriot in the years leading to the Revolutionary War, the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a merchant instrumental in the creation of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. When he died in Baltimore in 1832, he was one of the nation's wealthiest men.

Built in 1828, the Shot Tower rises 215 feet, 9 inches and was the tallest building in the United States until 1846. Made with an estimated 1.1 million bricks, it is the last of four in Baltimore that were used to make "drop" shot, or pellets, for small game hunting. It operated until 1892, when rising costs forced the owners to abandon it. Carroll had no connection with it, except for living nearby.

Besides the Carroll Mansion and the Shot Tower, the buildings under Pomykala's purview include the Fava Building at 33 S. Front St., with its cast-iron facade; the former 1840s House; the former Center for Urban Archaeology; and the museum's former administration building. The mansion and the Shot Tower are still city owned; the 1840s Corp. has acquired the others.

In 2002, Pomykala established a nonprofit organization, Carroll Museums Inc., to operate the mansion and Shot Tower as public attractions.

The 1840s Corp., which Pomykala heads with her husband, Ronald, has leased the first three levels of the Fava Building to a restaurant, Gardel's Restaurant & Supper Club, and operates the top floor as the 1840s Ballroom, a setting for meetings, weddings, receptions and other gatherings.

The 1840s Corp. created the inn within the shells of the former 1840s House, which depicted life in the early 19th century, the Center for Urban Archaeology and the administration building, and used the former museum courtyards to provide a visual connection.

The Leon Bridges Co. was the architect for the Carrollton Inn, which has a staff of 15. Pomykala served as general contractor and interior designer. Roman Gibas was her foreman.

Pomykala said she tried to take advantage of the historic ambience and urban location to create a bed-and-breakfast unlike any other in Baltimore - a getaway setting that offers a "resort type" atmosphere in the heart of the city.

"It's unusual that, four blocks from the Inner Harbor, you would have this garden, a plaza with flowers and trees and two courtyards," she said. "Once there, you're removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, yet you're one block from Little Italy, which is an attraction in itself."

Each guest room or suite is different. They're distinguished by names that underscore various aspects of Carroll's life, such as the Declaration Suite (since he signed the Declaration of Independence), Caton Suite (named after his daughter, Mary Caton) and Annapolis Suite (acknowledging Carroll's birthplace).

Furnishings include both antiques and reproduction pieces that impart a sense of gentility and sophistication. Room rates range from $175 to $395 per night, and accommodations include gourmet breakfast served in one of the first-floor parlors or in the courtyard.

"I wasn't trying to re-create a period," Pomykala said. "I just want people to feel they're someplace special. I've tried to give it timeless elegance."

One target market is people who want to elope - somewhere in Baltimore other than the Mitchell Courthouse. Gramercy, she said, averages one elopement a week. The Carrollton Inn staff includes two officiants - people licensed to perform marriages. One parlor has been designated the elopement room. Weddings also can be held in the courtyard.

Pomykala has plans for a three-story inn expansion that would contain 11 more rooms or suites and a garage for up to 120 cars. She'd like to introduce the area's first all-organic breakfast service and perhaps enclose the courtyard so it can be used year-round.

Pomykala is upbeat about recent changes in Jonestown, including the mixed-income Albemarle Square community that replaced the old Flag House Courts public housing. Among other pluses, the Heritage Walk tour route goes from the Inner Harbor to East Baltimore and right by the inn; a new Jonestown Visitor Center is inside the Carroll Mansion; and a midsized hotel is planned for the old Brewery Park site across Lombard Street from the mansion.

"This is a great location - A-plus-plus," she said.

ed.gunts@baltsun.com

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by Balmurfan

does anyone have any renderings of cityscape?

Hord Coplan Macht is listed as the architect. Couldn't find any renderings of Cityscape at their site, but this image (which may be long out of date) of housing above Lexington Market West is pretty cool.



P.S. I heart Ed Gunts (see article on 1840 House), but he's got to learn the difference between an ailanthus (weed tree, Tree of Heaven)



and a honey locust, which is what the trees in the courtyard are.

[DemolitionDave]

So it's not really called a "Ghetto Palm"?

[Maudibjr]

Originally Posted by jamie_hunt

Cityscape developer Mark Sapperstein seems more focused on McHenry Row in Locust Point, which is moving ahead smartly. Cityscape has more moving parts (multiple parcels, closing city streets, preservation issues) to deal with, which may help explain the lag. DemolitionDave alluded to tearing down the Brookshire (built out of a former parking garage) as part of the project, so maybe he has some more insight.

Wada had a pic of the Brookshire when it was a garage several months ago. I remember looking at the pic and trying to figure out what building it was. I wonder what the thought process was to turn a garage into a hotel. That has to be a fairly unique conversion.

[MobtownManiac]

I'd just like to take a moment to thank everyone who contributes here. I unfortunately stumbled into one of the worst forums the internet has ever seen & had to cleanse myself in the informed, intelligent, accurate, objective waters of Skyscrapercity.

Anyone ever been over to city-data.com? It's like nobody's ever been here, but they've seen the Wire or live in DC, so they're absolutely positive there's nothing good going on. Maddening.

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by DemolitionDave

So it's not really called a "Ghetto Palm"?

Ha! Twenty-some years ago, I was in a fraternity that used ailanthus to decorate for an annual island-themed party. It was a reasonable, cheap, and readily available sub.


Regarding the Brookshire, IIRC it was converted from one of those parking garages with a car elevator; you drove in and your car was lifted to an available space. Technology was sketchy, I guess. The garage never caught on. It had some butt ugly green panels on its exterior. However, it had level concrete floors and a big honkin' gap in its center for a people elevator and other mechanicals. Real low ceilings (7') in there though.

[StevenW]

Originally Posted by 30 Floors Up

We all have our roles on this board. You post links. Steven and others e-mail, and I take pictures.

Perhaps we can get someone to e-mail the "Contact" listed on the BDC's web site and ask - WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH CITYSCAPE? (in a nicer way of course - that's why I don't e-mail). the address listed is: kari@28walker.com

I just e-mailed them. We'll see what happens.

[BaltoSteve]

Originally Posted by MobtownManiac

I'd just like to take a moment to thank everyone who contributes here. I unfortunately stumbled into one of the worst forums the internet has ever seen & had to cleanse myself in the informed, intelligent, accurate, objective waters of Skyscrapercity.

Anyone ever been over to city-data.com? It's like nobody's ever been here, but they've seen the Wire or live in DC, so they're absolutely positive there's nothing good going on. Maddening.

The clueless Baltimore bashing by suburbanites/outa towners/etc does get old.To Paraphrase a line from Animal House"They cant treat Baltimore like that...Yeah only we can treat Baltimore like that!" (in the movie it was "pledges")


Oh and I believe the tree growing out of the Abell building is a Ghetto palm..Have noticed that for years..a true West Side Landmark!