Baltimore Development News

[BlueSock]

Originally Posted by pfd103

My wife and I added a new Baltimore City resident today!

Congratulations!

[NUEDEV]

Originally Posted by pfd103

My wife and I added a new Baltimore City resident today! I'm finding it very hard to figure out his stance on the new arena proposal though...

Congratulations .... only 59,999 to go!!! (of course that negates move outs and ups for that matter).

[NUEDEV]

Originally Posted by KLynch

None of that matters. Baltimore has incredible financial track record with their teams. The Ravens are top 10 in value, top 10 in attendance, and have an incredible deal with the Maryland stadium Authority.

The Orioles also have an incredible deal with the stadium authority, a huge value based on the team and TV deal, and despite losing where also in the top 10 in attendance until recently.

Both teams also have tv and radio deals in DC, and DC has their own team in both sports.

Baltimore is a good sized market, with growth and a lot of money. If the other stuff mattered than teams in places like Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, and Tampa wouldn't flounder like they do.

Seven Pro Teams On The Verge of Collapse (http://247wallst.com/2011/11/08/seve...of-collapse/3/)

I think the Timberwolves are a real opportunity!!



The owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers have recently agreed to sell the team, following a bankruptcy filing in June of this year. The team may sell for more than $1 billion — the highest in baseball history and a premium on the $800 million value Forbes has assigned it in its annual ranking.
24/7 Wall St. set out to identify the teams that were likely to follow the Dodgers down a similar path. Teams lose money because they lose fans. Teams lose fans because they lose games. 24/7 Wall St. has identified teams that are on the brink of collapse by measuring long-term financial performance, as well as win/loss records and attendance.
Read The Seven Pro Teams On The Brink Of Collapse
The greatest single cause of a team’s long-term success is obvious: whether or not it wins games. A quick glance at profit and attendance shows that, generally, teams that do well enough to make the playoffs manage to have high ticket sales. Only a few franchises can fail to make the playoffs for more than a few seasons before their profits begin to suffer.
Across the four biggest sports in the U.S., several teams have seen a massive decline in their attendance. While in some cases this is the result of moving to a new stadium with lower capacity, for the most part these teams simply do not win enough games. At the beginning of the decade, the Indiana Pacers were regular playoff contenders with high attendance, and they were profitable. For the past five seasons, they have lost more games than they have won. During that period, attendance has fallen by nearly 25%. The team has also lost money five years in a row.
According to Forbes, 39 of the 122 professional sports teams lost money last year. Some have lost a few million only a handful of times and likely will perform well in the future. For others, the loss is in the tens of millions and represents yet another season without positive net income. The Phoenix Coyotes, which went bankrupt in 2009 and were bought by the NHL, have lost money for at least 10 years straight. In all, since 2001, the team has lost $118 million. Compared to the Dodgers’ value of more than $1 billion, the Coyotes’ estimated value in 2010 was $134 million.
24/7 Wall St. identified teams that lost money for several years, based on Forbes estimates of income and value. Win-loss records and attendance numbers for a ten-year period from ESPN were used to demonstrate a down trend in performance and poor fan support. 24/7 Wall St.’s pro teams on the brink of collapse had consecutive years of losing money, poor win-loss records and declining attendance.
These are the seven pro teams on the brink of collapse.

1. Phoenix Coyotes
> 10-year change in attendance: -16.40% (third-biggest decline in NHL)
> W-L record 10 years: 329-310-38-61 (sixth worst in NHL)
> Operating income (2010): -$20 million
> Year founded: 1972 (moved to Phoenix in 1996)
> Value: $134 million (the least valuable in the NHL)

The Coyotes are one of the newest teams in the NHL, having moved from Winnipeg in 1996. According to Forbes, the Phoenix franchise is the least valuable in the NHL, worth just $134 million as of 2010. In contrast, the New York Rangers are worth more than three times as much. Between 2001 and 2010, the Coyotes lost money every single year, or a grand total of $118 million in losses over a nine-year period. In 2009, the losses were so high that the team declared bankruptcy. Eventually, the NHL ended up buying the team. Despite the fan draw of coach and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, as well as making the playoffs two years in a row (after missing them six seasons in a row), attendance remains low.

Also Read: The Major League Teams Americans Bet On The Most

2. Minnesota Timberwolves
> 10-year change in attendance: -12.88% (sixth biggest decline in NBA)
> W-L record 10 years: 339-481 (sixth worst in NBA)
> Operating income (2010): -$7 million
> Year founded: 1989
> Value: $264 million (second least valuable in NBA)

The Minnesota Timberwolves have missed the playoffs seven years in a row now, and with the NBA season in jeopardy, that streak could extend to eight. Looking at the past decade, the team has the sixth worst cumulative record in basketball. In the past few years, the team’s performance has been even worse. The team has won 56 games combined in the past three seasons, a number that five teams have surpassed in past season alone. Minnesota has lost money every year but one since 2004, and it is bound to lose a lot more if the lockout continues.

3. Sacramento Kings
> 10-year change in attendance: -19.79% (third biggest decline in NBA)
> W-L record 10 years: 410-410 (12th best)
> Operating income (2010): -$10 million
> Year founded: 1945 (moved to Sacramento in 1985)
> Value: $293 million (seventh least valuable in NBA)

Compared to the other NBA teams on this list, the Sacramento Kings still have a legitimate shot at recovery in the next few years, but their past few seasons have certainly put the team in a tight spot. At the beginning of the decade, the Kings were in the middle of an eight-season streak of making the playoffs, and during the 2001-2002 season were considered one of the best teams in basketball. The team has not made the playoffs since 2006, however, and increasingly poor performance has been a major drain on ticket sales. Since the 2000-2001 season, attendance has dropped nearly 20%. Net income has dropped four years in a row, and the team lost money in 2009 and 2010.

Also Read: The 20 Major League Teams With The Most Expensive Tickets

4. Indiana Pacers
> 10-year change in attendance: -24.32% (second biggest decline in NBA)
> W-L record 10 years: 399-421 (15th worst)
> Operating income (2010): -$17 million
> Year founded: 1967
> Value: $269 million (fourth least valuable in NBA)

The Indiana Pacers have not been in the black since 2005. Including 2010’s $17 million net loss, the team has cumulatively lost $52 million in five years. The team made the playoffs last year, ending a four-year drought, but then lost in five games to the Chicago Bulls. Attendance has declined precipitously since 2001, when the team was two years removed from a six-game loss in the championship to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2001, the team averaged attendance of 17,888 per home game. In 2009, the team cut ticket prices by 30%, hoping to attract fans, but so far it has had little success. Last year, the Pacers averaged 13,538 people per home game, easily the worst in the league.


5. New York Islanders
> 10-year change in attendance: -2.40% (eighth biggest decline in NHL)
> W-L record 10 years: 316-322-30-70 (fourth worst in NHL)
> Operating income (2010): -$4 million
> Year founded: 1972
> Value: $151 million (fifth least valuable in NHL)

The New York Islanders have the fourth-worst record in the NHL over the past 10 seasons, winning just 316 of their 738 games in regulation time. On top of this, the Islanders compete in a regional market with the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils. Both teams have had far greater success and are profitable. In 2001, the Islanders netted a profit of $1 million, compared to $6 million by the Devils and $60 million by the Rangers. Since that year, the franchise has failed to make a profit, losing $64 million cumulatively through 2010.

6. Detroit Lions
> 10-year change in attendance: -25.18% (the biggest decline in NFL)
> W-L record 10 years: 39-121 (the worst in NFL)
> Operating income (2010): -$8 million
> Year founded: 1929 (moved to Detroit in 1934)
> Value: $844 million (seventh least valuable in NFL)

While Detroit has certainly experienced increasing financial troubles, the team may be in the midst of turning its fortunes around. The Lions are currently 6-2, and the team is tied with several others for the third-best record in the NFL. If they continue to win, they could become a profitable NFL franchise again. However, stepping back from this year for a moment paints a less rosy picture. In the previous 10 seasons, the Lions have won just 39 out of 160 games, easily the worst record in the NFL. This includes the 2008 season, when the team became the only franchise ever to fail to win a game in the 16-game schedule. The team moved from the Silverdome in 2002 to Ford Field, hoping to save money, but even in the smaller stadium the team usually averages well below the 65,000 person capacity. While the franchise was profitable for the first half of the decade, the Lions lost money in four of the past five seasons, including the $8 million lost last year.

Also Read The 12 Major League Sports Teams Running Out Of Fans

7. Columbus Blue Jackets
> 10-year change in attendance: -23.67% (biggest decline in NHL)
> W-L record 10 years: 285-356-24-73 (the worst in NHL)
> Operating income (2010): -$7 million
> Year founded: 2000
> Value: $153 million (sixth least valuable in NHL)

The Columbus Blue Jackets joined the League in 2000, the same year as the Minnesota Wild. Since they joined, the Jackets have won just 38% of their nonplayoff games in regulation time, and have not won a single playoff game (despite making the playoffs once in 2008-2009 season). In its first few years, the Columbus franchise managed to record profits, but as one disappointing season after another set in, attendance has begun to decline rapidly. This season, even after the team added several expensive players in marquee trades, they are off to another horrible start, with just two wins in 14 games.

Michael B. Sauter

[NUEDEV]

Originally Posted by BlueSock

No. Baltimore is aiming to grow by 22,000 people, or 10,000 families, in 10 years:

[URL]http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-12-06/news/bs-md-ci-srb-looks-ahead-20111202_1_mayor-stephanie-rawlings-blake-new-families-property-tax-rate

To put that in perspective, the rate of natural increase (birth rate minus death rate) in the US is about 0.55% year. So in 10 years, natural growth of Baltimore should add about 35,000 people.

You read that right. Baltimore's goal is to add fewer families in the next 10 years than the natural rate of growth would. If Baltimore has grown by 25,000 people ten years from now, it means the city would have lost another 10,000 people to out-migration. And there's a good chance that by then Baltimore City will be the third-largest jurisdiction in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

C'mon. We can do better. Cut off the flow of taxpayer money to economically inefficient projects and remove the tax barriers that are keeping most of the activity in the suburbs. Then sit back and watch the growth blow the mayor's goal away.

One more final thought: while people in Baltimore are sitting around wondering how we can get United, people at United are sitting around wondering how they can get DC. That is the position we want to be in.

Watched the speech live, did the math in my head and after calculating, inserted families instead of residents. Thanks for correcting my mistake.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

Seawall embarks on $26M overhaul of Lebow Bros. building
Baltimore Business Journal by James Briggs, Reporter
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012, 10:46am EST - Last Modified: Friday, February 17, 2012, 1:21pm EST


Seawall Development Corp. has begun work on a $26.5 million project to convert the former Lebow Bros. Clothing Co. building into the Baltimore Design School.

The Baltimore Design School, a public middle and high school that includes sixth through 12 grades, is operating at 1101 Winston Ave., but plans to move to its new home in 2013.

The project is the result of a creative financing package that includes $23.5 million in taxable bonds, which were sold in December, and $3 million in state historic tax credits, said Steve Arnold, vice president of Columbia National Real Estate Finance LLC.

“We went out and structured the bonds based on upon the credit of the tenant (Baltimore City Public Schools),” Arnold said. “Based upon the numbers, they’re getting maximum proceeds so the rent will go to cover the debt service and that’s pretty much it.”

Seawall purchased the building with bank financing for about $2 million and sold it to a nonprofit organization, Fashion Architecture and Basic Design School Inc., which was created to be the landlord. BCPS will pay $1.6 million per year for 30 years, which Arnold said will pay off the building’s debt.

Jon Constable, a project manager for Seawall, said the financing could become a model for future public-private partnerships.

“They’re leveraging it like the private market would,” Constable said.

The four-story building, which will consist of 113,787 square feet when completed, has been vacant since Lebow Bros. closed in 1985. The building, in what is now called the Station North neighborhood near Penn Station, was constructed in 1915.

The project began a few weeks ago and should be completed by March 2013, Constable said.

“Right now, we’re doing environmental abatement and [demolition], which we’ve pretty much finished, and we’re starting the concrete restoration,” Constable said. “The full-fledged construction starts March 1.”

The building, which Constable said consists of about 60 percent windows, offers unique design and construction opportunities.

Baltimore's Southway Builders Inc. is the general contractor, and Baltimore-based Ziger-Snead Architects designed the project.

“The building back in the day tapped into ground water, so you had this water geothermal system to condition that air,” Constable said. “Basically, you have an extremely state-of-the art 100-year-old HVAC system in that building. It’s really cool stuff.”

Such elements, he said, will make it a one-of-a-kind home for BDS.

“Yeah, we’re going to have classrooms,” Constable said, “but we’re also going to have an insane media center and studios and workshops that are going to be unique to this building.”

[scando]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

Seawall embarks on $26M overhaul of Lebow Bros. building
Baltimore Business Journal by James Briggs, Reporter
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012, 10:46am EST - Last Modified: Friday, February 17, 2012, 1:21pm EST


Seawall Development Corp. has begun work on a $26.5 million project to convert the former Lebow Bros. Clothing Co. building into the Baltimore Design School....

Oh no..does that mean no more urban spelunking among the racks of old suits?

[Maudibjr]

Originally Posted by cgunna

For forumers who just need to have some Baltimore outdoor soccer...

(From last November)


TAMPA, Fla. – United Soccer Leagues announced today that the Baltimore Bohemians will join the PDL for the 2012 season. The Bohemians, operated by principal owner Louis Angelos, will call Cedar Lane Park in Bel Air, Maryland their home.

http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/581084.html

-------

If it goes well, maybe ole Louie Angelos will go buy a MLS team regardless on what the United choose to do.


**The Angelos family purchasing another professional sports franchise in Baltimore is a huge upper/downer.

There is a Cedar Lane park with a substantial sports complex in Columbia. A cedar Lane park does not exist in Bel Air.

I would much rather see baltimore with a MLS team than NBA or NHL. Although I do have a soft spot for the Old Skipjacks, bring back the AHL!

[KLynch]

Cedar Lane Park is in Bel Air. I've been there at least 20 times. Second nicest complex around behind the Germantown Soccer plex.

http://www.cedarlanesports.org/

[k25150]

Expect a new ABA elite b-ball team before the NBA. NBA is in bad shape. They need to to contract. Their new CBA barely addresses their issues.

[baltimoreisbest]

Looks like more stalling is in order on the Superblock...

http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2012/02...or-protesters/

While I'm sympathetic to the need to preserve the city's African American heritage, I'm just astounded at how counterproductive all of this protesting is. It's 10 years of legal delays that have led to the extent of decay we're seeing. Besides, didn't the Read's activists sign off on SRB's plan to place a memorial at the site of the drug store and preserve elements of the facade?

[rockin'.baltimorean]

so, lemme' get this straight...

activists of the Read's building didn't give a damn about this building when it sat vacant for years, and now that its ready to be developed, they wanna' call shots on the timeframe on when it gets developed?

wasn't there some kinda' agreement set in place saying that the walls of this building would be saved?

[ltong]

SRB's goal of adding 22,000 people in a decade is almost as pathetic as her goal of property tax reduction.

Originally Posted by BlueSock

No. Baltimore is aiming to grow by 22,000 people, or 10,000 families, in 10 years:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201...perty-tax-rate

To put that in perspective, the rate of natural increase (birth rate minus death rate) in the US is about 0.55% year. So in 10 years, natural growth of Baltimore should add about 35,000 people.

You read that right. Baltimore's goal is to add fewer families in the next 10 years than the natural rate of growth would. If Baltimore has grown by 25,000 people ten years from now, it means the city would have lost another 10,000 people to out-migration. And there's a good chance that by then Baltimore City will be the third-largest jurisdiction in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

C'mon. We can do better. Cut off the flow of taxpayer money to economically inefficient projects and remove the tax barriers that are keeping most of the activity in the suburbs. Then sit back and watch the growth blow the mayor's goal away.

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

so, lemme' get this straight...

activists of the Read's building didn't give a damn about this building when it sat vacant for years, and now that its ready to be developed, they wanna' call shots on the timeframe on when it gets developed?

wasn't there some kinda' agreement set in place saying that the walls of this building would be saved?

Rockin,

It's worse than that. There's an almost complete White Tower Restaurant still sitting on the second floor of the former City Life Museums Exhibition Center (the red, cast-iron front building on President Street at Lombard).

This White Tower used to sit at Howard and Centre. It was also the site of sit-ins. More tense, in fact, than the one's at Read's, since the owners weren't as much a part of the fabric of the city as Read's was, and weren't interested in yielding.

And, as I say, it's pretty much intact, including the interior. Students from the School for the Arts used to do performances in it, dressed as actors from the civil rights era. Think these "activists" protesting about the two remaining walls of Reads had any interest in seeing the City Life Museums saved when financial difficulties forced the museum to close? Think they'd lift a hand to get the Tower relocated to a venue where it could again be an exhibit about civil rights?

Hells no. Bunch of phonies, the lot of them.

[CU_rak]

Interesting little blurb from Atlantic Cities re 100 Light:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/nei...e-towers/1235/

Got me thinking... has there been any progress or funding set aside for the Pratt Street redesign? Honestly, I think this would be low on the totem pole in these times, but making Pratt more pedestrian friendly could be key to revitalizing the old CBD.

http://www.godowntownbaltimore.com/P...esentation.pdf

[scando]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

so, lemme' get this straight...

activists of the Read's building didn't give a damn about this building when it sat vacant for years, and now that its ready to be developed, they wanna' call shots on the timeframe on when it gets developed?

wasn't there some kinda' agreement set in place saying that the walls of this building would be saved?

I recall that too, but it appears that the activists have upped the ante. Sadly, but the time all this is resolved, the building might self destruct anyway. The whole very un-super block is rapidly becoming completely irrelevant. In short, who would WANT to build there. Way back in the stone age, when Schmoke was mayor, the city wanted to just clear the area and re-boot. I wonder if they were anticipating all this unproductive contention. It really doesn't bode well for the whole idea of an area wide do-over in the city; who would want to go in there and have to deal with so many years of fruitless pis*ing battles?

[scando]

Originally Posted by CU_rak

Interesting little blurb from Atlantic Cities re 100 Light:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/nei...e-towers/1235/

Got me thinking... has there been any progress or funding set aside for the Pratt Street redesign? Honestly, I think this would be low on the totem pole in these times, but making Pratt more pedestrian friendly could be key to revitalizing the old CBD.

http://www.godowntownbaltimore.com/P...esentation.pdf

The "plight" of 70's towers is fairly predictable. Some years back, I saw a graph of the likelihood of a building being demolished. At 40 years they start to curve up (meaning that demo chances increase) and around 80 it becomes "historic" and the curve starts to go down. The problem is big buildings like these, however, is that they're so big that unless somebody really wants the property, nobody is going to want to bear the cost of demolishing it. Fortunately our building got new interest, so the problem gets postponed for a while.

Pratt St doesn't seem to have a big redesign, but in the absence of a big plan, they keep cutting down trees and leveling berms....do now,,plan later?

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by scando

I recall that too, but it appears that the activists have upped the ante. Sadly, but the time all this is resolved, the building might self destruct anyway. The whole very un-super block is rapidly becoming completely irrelevant. In short, who would WANT to build there. Way back in the stone age, when Schmoke was mayor, the city wanted to just clear the area and re-boot. I wonder if they were anticipating all this unproductive contention. It really doesn't bode well for the whole idea of an area wide do-over in the city; who would want to go in there and have to deal with so many years of fruitless pis*ing battles?

That was the idea of the Weinberg Foundation, not the city. The Foundation underwrote the plan that called for demolishing the Superblock and what's now Centerpoint.

[rockin'.baltimorean]

the hanover company's 440 units in brewer's hill is in full swing....

[hpal3]

I'm not sure how old this flyer is, but pretty cool stuff on station north and the proposed asia town area...

http://baltimoredevelopment.com/site...ure_lowres.pdf

West Baltimore TOD

http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Portals...C_Chapter3.pdf

[rockin'.baltimorean]

the rendering called "the four anchors" in this link is the only rendering i've never seen...