UPDATE: The Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation on Tuesday voted 9 to 0 to affirm that the buildings at 114 W. Lexington St., 116-120 W. Lexington St., and 207-209 Park Ave. are contributing structures to the city’s Five & Dime Historic District.
The panel’s vote means that developer Chukes Okoro must come before CHAP at a second public hearing if he wants to demolish the buildings to make way for a six-story apartment building. Okoro said after Tuesday’s meeting that he will ask for a second hearing before CHAP. He said the architect of the proposed building is The Phlox Team, a Baltimore-based architecture and interior design firm founded by Uzo Nkem-Mmekam, and that the project will be called Garden Theatre Place, a nod to the theater that was on the site for many years.
Okoro Development plans to construct a six-story, $8.6 million apartment building at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and Lexington Street, if it receives permission to tear down three buildings now at the site.
Developer Chukuemeka “Chukes” Okoro released a rendering that shows the building would have 35 rental apartments on floors 2 through 6 and two commercial spaces at street level.
The apartments would be a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, all market rate, and the building would have indoor and outdoor “amenity space” for the building’s residents.
Okoro has asked Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) to permit the demolition of three buildings in the Five & Dime Historic District to make way for the proposed development. CHAP is holding a hearing today to consider that request.
The buildings targeted for demolition are: a three-story building at 114 W. Lexington St. that once served as the entry to a theater called The Garden; the former Ann Lewis department store at 116-120 W. Lexington St., and a four-story commercial building at 207-209 Park Ave.
Okoro said in an email message that he is seeking to consolidate the three building lots so he can create one replacement building.
Asked why he can’t create the apartments using the existing structures, he said it would not be financially feasible, given the buildings’ deteriorated condition and other issues.
“The center property (116-120 West Lexington Street) will require extensive exterior and interior reconfiguration to positively contribute to the Lexington Street corridor,” he said.
“The two other buildings are landlocked with no ability to adhere to current Baltimore City building codes. These buildings are in an advanced state of deterioration, and it is not financially feasible to preserve them. New construction will allow for the requisite number of units to create a financially feasible project and continue the trend of economic growth in the Westside” of downtown.
This would be the fourth project by Okoro Development near Lexington Market and would represent the company’s largest investment in the area to date.
Founded in 2003, the company rehabilitated the structures at 101 W. Lexington St., 109 W. Lexington St. and 324-326 Park Ave. for residential use, and it has its headquarters at 109 W. Lexington St.
Okoro said UK Construction and Management would be the contractor. The city currently owns the three buildings and would sell them to the developer. The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore supports the developer’s plan.
CHAP has a two-step process for considering requests to demolish buildings in local historic districts. Tuesday’s meeting would be the first of potentially two public hearings to consider the demolition request.
At Tuesday’s hearing, commissioners will focus only on the existing buildings and whether they contribute to the Five & Dime Historic District, not the plans for the proposed replacement project. Okoro’s plans for the apartment building would be addressed in a second hearing.
CHAP’s public meeting starts Tuesday at 1 p.m. on the eighth floor of the Benton Building at 417 E. Fayette St.
Really?
If it is truly necessary to remove historic structures in this once elegant area of the City, can’t we at least require that the developer build something that looks like the surrounding area, with a brick facade and double hung windows? This rendering shows a building that is completely out of character with the neighborhood.
Must new construction be so banal and soulless? Did a real human produce this design?
I am less concerned about losing the existing structures and more concerned that the proposed building reads as uninspired prison architecture. If it clears CHAP will there be a design panel review?
I agree with all the above comments.
The building is a good addition for the area but it should have a better looking facade.
It takes the same effort and work to build something good looking that will blend with the surroundings.