The former Shofer’s Furniture Clearance Center in south Baltimore would be demolished to make way for an as-yet unspecified development project if Baltimore’s preservation commission approves owner Henry Shofer’s application to tear it down.
Shofer is seeking permission from Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) to raze five structures in the city’s Federal Hill Historic District that once housed a clearance center affiliated with the former Shofer’s furniture store at 930 S. Charles St.
Shofer is not seeking to tear down the former furniture store, which closed in early 2021 after 106 years in business and is on the market with Cushman & Wakefield as the listing agent.
The buildings Shofer wants to tear down are at 1007 S. Charles St.; 1009-1011 S. Charles St.-front; 1009-1011 S. Charles St.-rear; 1013 S. Charles St.-front and 1013 S. Charles St. rear. The structures facing Charles Street date from the late 1800s and are part of a continuous street wall that stretches along the full block.
Shofer’s application triggered a two-step hearing process that CHAP follows when it receives demolition requests involving buildings in local historic districts such as Federal Hill.
In the first hearing, CHAP considers whether the buildings targeted for demolition are contributing structures to the historic district. If they aren’t, CHAP won’t block the issuance of a demolition permit. But if they are deemed contributing structures, CHAP holds a second hearing to give applicants a chance to discuss their plans for a property and why preserving the buildings in question would pose an economic hardship for them or make redevelopment economically infeasible.
CHAP held its first hearing on Shofer’s application on Tuesday. Two Shofer representatives, Saul Ewing attorney Thomas Prevas, and Cap Ex Advisory Group executive Tim Pula, told the commissioners that the buildings have been vacant for years, are in poor condition, have lost much of their architectural integrity, and would be very expensive to rehab. They noted, as did a CHAP staff report, that the building at 1007 S. Charles St. was originally taller but its roof collapsed, an upper floor was removed and only the shell of a one-story structure remains.
Prevas read a letter from City Council member Eric Costello, who represents Federal Hill and supports Shofer’s demolition request. Chris Hyde, director of the Baltimore Preservation League, said he believes the structures contribute to the Federal Hill historic district and urged the panel not to approve Shofer’s application.
“The Shofer application must be denied,” Hyde said. “The properties under review today are historically significant and should be preserved.”
According to preservation planner Tyriq Charleus, CHAP’s staff recommends that the panel find that three of the buildings – 1007 S. Charles and the rears of 1009-1011 and 1013 S. Charles – do not contribute to the historic district. Charleus said the staff recommends that the panel find that the front structures at 1009-1011 and 1013 S. Charles do contribute to the historic district and should be preserved. The panel voted to follow the staff’s recommendations.
The vote means that CHAP will not block Shofer’s efforts to tear down 1007 S. Charles Street and the structures at the rear of 1009-1011 and 1013 S. Charles St., although he still needs a demolition permit from Baltimore’s housing department. But Shofer does not yet have CHAP’s permission to tear down the front buildings at 1009-1011 and 1013 S. Charles Street and must come back for a second hearing before CHAP if he wants to do so.
Shofer said he will ask for a second hearing with CHAP. He said after the vote was taken on Tuesday that he doesn’t have a specific proposal for the site but that whatever is built will be designed to fit in with the rest of the block and area.
“I understand the historic significance of the neighborhood,” he said. “I’m going to replace [the existing buildings] with something that’s going to appear like it’s been there for 100 years.”
Once again, the city rewards ‘demolition by neglect’ by passing the buck to its wrecking crew, CHAP.
La préservation historique semble être morte dans la Ville Monumentale.