Developer Chukuemeka “Chukes” Okoro on Tuesday cleared a key hurdle in his quest to build 48 market-rate apartments on the west side of downtown Baltimore, when his plan received preliminary approval from the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP).
The project is a seven-story building at the northeast corner of West Lexington Street and Park Avenue, in the city’s Five & Dime Historic District. Okoro is the founder of Okoro Development, and his plan calls for six floors of apartments above a first level containing about 3,000 square feet of commercial space.
The apartments will be constructed on parcels that currently contain three vacant, city-owned buildings in the historic district, and that’s why the plan needs CHAP’s approval. The buildings are: the former Ann Lewis department store at 116-120 W. Lexington St., a structure that dates from 1941 and is windowless above the first floor; a three-story building at 114 W. Lexington St. that once served as the entry to a theater called The Garden, and a four-story commercial building at 207 Park Ave.
The Baltimore Development Corporation sought proposals for the three properties in 2022 and selected Okoro as the developer. Before it will sell the buildings to Okoro, the development corporation wants to be certain CHAP will approve his development plan. Tamir Ezzat of ddbWorkshop is the architect and Ann Powell of Plan B is the owner’s representative.
Ezzat’s design calls for the demolition of the former department store to make way for new construction, and for the retention of 114 W. Lexington St. and 207 Park Ave. He presented renderings showing that a seven-story apartment building will rise in place of the department store and above the other two structures, which will also contain apartments and be connected to the new corner structure. There is no on-site parking.
During a public hearing last year, CHAP members agreed to approve demolition of the corner structure after Okoro argued that its lack of windows made it difficult to adapt for new uses and comply with city building codes. CHAP did not agree to allow demolition of 114 W. Lexington and 207 Park Ave., with commissioners saying those buildings contribute to the historic district and should be preserved.
Asked this week how much of the two smaller structures would be preserved, Ezzat said the plan is to retain and work within the entire structures, not just the street-facing facades.
“The intent is that the shell structures, not just the façades [but] the actual bearing walls on both sides, are being maintained,” Ezzat said. There’s “no intention of the project or the developer to just bulldoze the back of what you see from a facadectomy, if you will. We’re really trying to graft onto them and work off of them.”
City planner Caitin Audette said the fronts of the historic buildings will be repaired in accordance with CHAP guidelines and noted that there is precedent in the area for a seven-story building.
Ezzat told the commissioners that the new building would be clad in a combination of brick, metal panels and glass. He said after the meeting that the residences would be market-rate and that the ground floor commercial space would be able to accommodate one or more tenants. He and Powell did not disclose a construction budget.
CHAP voted 6 to 0, with one abstention, to approve the scale and massing of the proposed development, with the understanding that the architect will come back for a second design review at a public hearing. Panel members suggested some design modifications but generally said they were satisfied with the direction of Okoro’s proposal and the way it combines the historic buildings with new construction to help revitalize the area.
“Overall, I think the building looks good. I like the height, and the massing is fine with me,” said commissioner Peter Morrill.
“They’ve done a good job in my opinion to…establish a proper massing on the corner of that block,” agreed commissioner Kuo Pao Lian. “I personally don’t have a problem with the height…There’s something to be said about it being a corner building and that it has..sort of the license to be prominent, particularly if it’s a new building.”
I am glad that CHAP stuck up for the 2 smaller buildings and their unique contribution to preserving old Baltimore. But it is so easy, once construction begins, to have an “Oops” happen and they are gone. There should be penalties in place, maybe through a city bill, that ensures their survival.
Article descibes 48 market rate apartments. Assuming the developer gets the High Performance Market Rate Rental Tax Credit (available to virtually all new market rate apartments) or other public subsidy, at least 5 of those apartments (10%) must be affordable Inclusionary units.
This is a much better design than before…
Need to understand planning and adaptive reuse strategy as renders are so easy to do now they become specious sales tools.