Baltimore’s preservation commission kept the Compass revitalization project alive on Tuesday when it approved a developer’s request to tear down five buildings near the intersection of Howard and Fayette streets.
But another developer, Chukuemeka “Chukes” Okoro, suffered a setback when the preservation panel wouldn’t allow demolition of two of the three buildings that he wanted to raze to make way for an $8.6 million, 35-unit apartment building called Garden Theatre Place at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and Lexington Street.
Both decisions by the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) came at the end of public hearings at which the developers requested permission to demolish buildings that the commission had previously ruled were “contributing” structures to the city’s Five & Dime Historic District on the west side of downtown.
In the case of the Compass project, the commission agreed to allow demolition of the buildings at 220, 222 and 224 West Lexington Street and 105 and 107 North Howard Street so the developer, Westside Partners, can consolidate the lots as part of plan to construct one larger replacement structure.
The preservation commissioners had previously said they would not block demolition of 101 North Howard Street and 226 West Fayette Street, two other buildings that the developer wants to raze to be part of the footprint for the replacement structure.
The commissioners approved “full demolition” of the Fayette Street buildings, meaning they didn’t ask for any parts of the structures to be salvaged and repurposed. In the case of the two Howard Street buildings, they asked that architectural details of the existing front facades be salvaged and incorporated into the new construction, resulting in what they called “rebuilt facades.” Elements of the buildings that they asked the developer to reuse include window sills, hoods, cornices and bricks.
The commissioners asked that the developer “document” the five buildings before they are demolished and present the documentation to CHAP. They also said they wouldn’t issue any demolition permits until the developers provided proof they have financing for the replacement project.
Proof of financing was requested, they said, so the city isn’t left with a vacant lot if the buildings are torn down and the replacement project doesn’t materialize due to lack of funding, as happened with the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre, the Hendler Creamery and other projects.
The idea of rebuilding the facades as a stipulation for getting demolition approval was a recommendation that came from the CHAP staff. The commission’s vote to allow demolition of the five buildings and require rebuilding the Howard Street facades was 5 yes votes, 1 no vote, and 2 abstentions, with commissioner Kuo Pao Lian saying he thought the concept of reconstructing the Howard Street facades as part of the new building was like putting “patches on a jacket.”
Developer Chris Janian of Westside Partners said reconstructing the façades would increase the cost of the project but he was willing to agree to that request if that was the only way to get the project to move ahead.
“We have heard from the staff today that we have met all three CHAP guidelines for demolition but that the two facades on Howard Street are important,” he said. “We want this project to move forward today. And while the staff recommendation to repurpose the facades of these buildings will be expensive and difficult, we will agree to compromise here…In the interest of compromise, we’d like to accept the staff’s recommendation.”
Janian is the same developer who agreed to save part of the dilapidated shell of the former Martick’s Restaurant Francais at 214 West Mulberry Street as a condition of receiving CHAP’s approval to construct a six-story, 94-unit apartment building next to it.
Part of a larger project
The buildings at Howard and Fayette Streets, all vacant, are part of a larger mixed-use, multi-phase redevelopment project that Westside Partners has proposed for the area bounded roughly by Fayette, Howard and Lexington streets and Park Avenue.
The site, once known as the Superblock, includes 18 city-owned properties that were offered for redevelopment by the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC). The three-and-a-half and four-story buildings were constructed in the mid- to late 19th century, and the city has been trying to rejuvenate the area for decades.
In 2020, former Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young selected Westside Partners to be the developer after it submitted a plan to build apartments, offices, stores and other uses in a combination of renovated buildings and new construction. The proposed investment exceeds $150 million.
Before the city will sell the properties, Westside Partners is required to obtain design approval for its project, and that includes obtaining CHAP’s approval for any proposed demolition because the properties are in a historic district.
Janian had argued in a previous hearing that there was no economically-feasible way to renovate the buildings at the northeast corner of Howard and Fayette streets because they have small floorplates, their floors don’t line up, they’re deteriorated and they would be prohibitively costly to bring up to code.
He argued that it would make more sense to clear the site and construct an efficient, code-compliant, economically-viable building that was “thoughtfully designed” to meet the needs of 21st century tenants than to spend money attempting to retrofit the existing structures when they wouldn’t be able to recoup their investment – a process he likened to trying “to force a square peg into a round hole.”
Janian said his team intends to preserve a higher percentage of historically-significant buildings on the Lexington Street side of the parcel that BDC offered for development, and that preservation work will help the district retain its historic character. Since his team plans to retain the majority of the historic fabric on the Lexington Street side, “the demo of these five dilapidated buildings will have no significant impact on the historically- or architecturally-significant elements of the overall district,” he said.
Janian also warned about the impression that people would get of the district if CHAP doesn’t allow demolition and the properties continue to languish because there’s no way for a developer to earn a fair rate of return by rehabbing them.
Given the city’s larger goal of rejuvenating the west side of downtown, it would be counterproductive to have five highly visible buildings sitting vacant and deteriorating next to other properties that have been fixed up, he said. That argument seemed to hit home with some of the commissioners, who voted to approve demolition.
With CHAP’s approval on Tuesday, Janian said, his team will now meet with the city’s Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel to present plans for the proposed replacement building and get that panel’s feedback.
Janian previously had told CHAP that the replacement structure at Howard and Fayette streets would be a residential building with retail space at street level, but he didn’t confirm that on Tuesday. He said his current plans call for a corner building rising about four stories and that the timetable for construction would depend on how quickly his team can get through the city’s design review process.
Garden Theatre Place
In the second decision involving buildings in the Five & Dime Historic District, Okoro of Okoro Development asked CHAP to approve demolition of the three buildings at 114 West Lexington Street; 116-120 West Lexington Street and 207-209 Park Avenue to make way for a six-storybuilding with retail space at street level and apartments above.
The three buildings are currently owned by the city, and Okoro was selected as the developer after he responded to a request for proposals that the BDC issued in 2022. At a public hearing in May, CHAP determined that all three buildings were ‘contributing structures’ in the historic district.
As with the Compass project, the city will not sell the properties to the developer until he obtains design approval for his plans, including permission from CHAP to demolish the buildings he wants to replace.
Like Janian, Okoro said he wanted to take down the existing buildings and consolidate the lots so he would have one large footprint to construct his proposed apartment building. He told the panel that the three buildings are all in poor condition and would be costly to bring up to code. He warned that the Park Avenue structure is leaning on the corner building and likely would become more unstable if the corner building were taken down.
CHAP agreed to allow demolition of the former Ann Lewis Shops department store, a 1941 Moderne-style structure at 116-120 West Lexington Street with an undulating façade and no windows above the first floor. The commissioners asked that the developer document the building before it’s demolished. The vote was 7 to 1 in favor of demolition.
The vote came after CHAP staff planner Stacy Montgomery told the commission that the lack of upper-level windows posed a problem for the developer. “You can’t reuse it without adding windows, and if you add windows, it’s not the same building,” she said.
After approving demolition of the corner building, the panel declined to approve the requested demolitions of 114 West Lexington Street and 207-209 Park Avenue, in one vote. The vote was 5 to 1 in favor of retaining those buildings.
After CHAP denied his request to raze 114 West Lexington Street and 207-209 Park Avenue, Okoro said he would have to consult with his architects, CHAP and BDC representatives and others to see if there’s a way for his project to proceed.
“I’m going to work with CHAP and see what I can do,” he said.
It seems the nature of “Historic Preservation” has changed as of late as “demolition by neglect” has become the operative way of “holding” real estate sites (not the buildings) for future redevelopment as one cannot use the term adaptive reuse when so much demolished is taking place.
After of 20 or 30 years (or longer) of no action with the “preservation” of city architecture perhaps CHAP feels the time come for wholesale demolition of existing urban fabric ?
There are many sites throughout the city where buildings have been left vacant for decades. Will they too suffer the same fate ?