Urban Landscape: Revitalization of Harborplace, Camden Yards, Station North and west side of downtown led real estate and development news in 2023

The proposed redevelopment of Harborplace led the news on the local real estate and development front in 2023, as people around the city warmed up to the idea of revitalizing Baltimore’s “crown jewel” on the waterfront after years of its deterioration.

Revitalization was a recurring theme in other parts of the city as well, from Camden Yards to the west side of downtown Baltimore to the Station North arts district. 

In some cases, big projects were announced but are still in the pre-construction stage, as developers work to secure design approvals and line up financing.

Others have been under construction all year and still aren’t open, including improvements in and around Penn Station; new waterfront headquarters for T. Rowe Price and Under Armour; and major additions to the Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus and East Baltimore medical campus. 

The past year also brought key openings in the central business district and elsewhere, including the $250 million CFG Bank Arena; a second theater for the France Merrick Performing Arts Center; a heavy timber office building in Canton; and a new nature education center at Cylburn Arboretum. 

Against this backdrop is a transportation-related project that has the potential to affect much of the city, the planned Red Line transit route that Gov. Wes Moore revived to connect East and West Baltimore. State officials are expected to announce a preferred alignment for the route and other details in the near future. 

Here are some of the projects that either changed the urban landscape in Baltimore over the past year or promise to do so. 

Harborplace: An affiliate of MCB Real Estate completed its acquisition of the two retail pavilions at Pratt and Light streets and launched a community engagement process designed to give city residents a chance to say what they’d like to see happen there. The process started as a cordial discussion about possible ways to reimagine the city’s waterfront. But reactions to the project have been more mixed after MCB unveiled renderings showing what it proposes to build – a mixed-use development including two high-rise structures containing about 900 apartments as well as offices, shops restaurants and public space.

As long as the subjects discussed were relatively abstract, the discourse was mostly upbeat. Once the developer offered a more specific vision to react to, the critics began to weigh in. While many welcomed the proposed private investment and the property’s return to local ownership, others questioned the planning and review process: Are the proposed buildings too tall? Why not recycle the existing pavilions? Is the city giving too much control to private developers?

The year is ending with a cliffhanger of sorts: MCB’s proposal has received strong endorsement from elected officials, and Baltimore’s Planning Commission voted unanimously this month to support legislation that would make it possible. But the development can’t proceed as presented unless city residents approve it when it comes up for a vote in the general election next November. That means 2024 will bring even more discussion and debate about the future of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, leading up to the election.

Camden Yards: As part of negotiations to extend the Orioles’ lease at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, team chairman and CEO John Angelos asked state officials to give the team control of state-owned property that could be used to create a mixed-use development that would help draw people to the area year round. One of Angelos’ models was the Battery Atlanta entertainment district near Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. Many other cities have supported the creation of sports-themed developments adjacent to ballparks.

Unlike MCB, Angelos hasn’t released any renderings to show what he envisions. As with Harborplace, questions were raised about exactly what Angelos was seeking, and what the state would be giving up if it turned control over to the team without seeking competitive bids. In the end, state officials were able to extend the Orioles lease, but they delayed taking action on Angelos’ request to award development rights of state property to the Orioles. The decision means Baltimore won’t be getting a Battery Atlanta-type development in the near future, but the vision is still alive.

The west side of downtown: Another mixed-use project, The Compass, cleared a key hurdle when Baltimore’s preservation commission approved Westside Partners’ master plan for redeveloping 18 city-owned properties in the area bounded roughly by Fayette, Howard and Lexington streets and Park Avenue. The plan will add 302 residences, 120 hotel rooms, office space and ground level stores and gathering places in a mix of new and recycled buildings in the city’s Five & Dime Historic District.

Other action on the West Side of downtown included plans by the Episcopal Housing Corporation and Health Care for the Homeless to create a 42-unit affordable housing development called Sojourner Place at Park, incorporating the shells of vacant buildings at 142 W. Fayette St.; 102, 104 and 106 N. Liberty St.; and 111 Park Ave.

Lexington Market had a grand opening in January for its new home at 112 N. Eutaw St. and continued to add merchants throughout the year. Park Avenue Partners began construction on a $30 million, six-story, 94-unit apartment building in the 400 block of Park Avenue, including partial retention and restoration of the former Martick’s Restaurant Francaise at 214 W. Mulberry St. Developer Chukuemeka “Chukes” Okoro unveiled preliminary plans for a six-story apartment building at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and Lexington Street. 

The west side also benefitted from two of Baltimore’s biggest building openings in 2023: the CFG Bank Arena, a $250 million renovation of the old First Mariner Arena at 201 W. Baltimore St.; and the M&T Bank Exchange, a new theater and events venue for the France Merrick Performing Arts Center at 12 N. Eutaw St., home of the Hippodrome Theatre. France-Merrick Performing Arts Center president Ron Legler was honored by the Broadway League for excellence in theater management.

Station North: The Station North Arts District received welcome exposure and foot traffic when Baltimore’s Artscape festival returned after a four-year hiatus and expanded its footprint to include parts of Station North.  In advance of the festival, the city of Baltimore with newly-named arts czar Tonya Miller Hall commissioned several murals to help brighten the area long after the festival is over.

The historic North Avenue Market came alive during Artscape with a series of pop-up merchants and art installations. The market is under contract to the group led by developer John Renner, who wants to turn it into a community arts hub, and the temporary tenants showed how much a rejuvenated market can add to the area. Founders of Mobtown Ballroom announced plans to make the market the location for their new home, the Mobtown Ballroom and Café.

Baltimore was the recipient of a $1 million grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Art Challenge to bring more public art to the North Avenue corridor. The project, called “Inviting Light,” is led by the Central Baltimore Partnership, the Neighborhood Design Center and the Mayor’s Office. The Area 405 arts community at 405 East Oliver Street moved ahead with a second phase of renovation. The Maryland Film Festival announced plans to reopen the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theatre at 5 West North Avenue, closed for most of 2023, as part of its 25^th anniversary celebration in May of 2024. The Parlor, an arts hub inside a former funeral home at 108 West North Avenue, opened for several pop-up events.

Baltimore Peninsula/Port Covington: In south Baltimore, developers welcomed the first office, retail and residential tenants to Baltimore Peninsula, the new name for the 235-acre mixed-use community formerly known as Port Covington. The developers tore down the Baltimore Sun Media Group’s former headquarters, Sun Park, after the media company moved its newsroom back downtown.

Across Cromwell Street, a group led by 28 Walker Development began construction on the first phases of an 809-unit, 25-acre residential community planned for the former Locke Insulators parcel at 2525 Insulator Drive, with DRB Homes, K. Hovnanian Home and Greystar also on the team. Under Armour completed work on an athletic field and stadium that’s part of the global headquarters its building on the Middle Branch waterfront.

Charles Village: Baltimore’s Planning Commission approved plans by Workshop Development and MCB Real Estate to construct a seven-story apartment building in the 3100 block of St. Paul Street, with a new Streets Market and other retailers at ground level. The developers still need the Baltimore’s City Council to pass legislation that would change the property’s height limit from 68 feet to 80 feet so they can move ahead with construction. A branch of Busboys and Poets restaurant closed at 3224 St. Paul St. A $26 million, 115-room hotel, The Study at Johns Hopkins, opened inside the former Blackstone Apartments building at 3215 N. Charles St.

More mixed-use developments

Midtown: The University of Baltimore selected a group led by Zahlco and Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures to redevelop a 2.35-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Maryland Avenue and Oliver Street, currently occupied by a former U. S. postal service vehicle maintenance facility.  Plans call for apartments, retail space and associated amenities. The estimated private investment is more than $150 million.

Reservoir Square: Reservoir Square is the new name for a $100 million community under construction on eight acres along the 700 and 800 blocks of West North Avenue, between Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill. The project was previously called Madison Park North. The developers are MCB Real Estate, MLR Partners and Atapco Properties. Plans call for 120 townhouses, about 200 apartments, offices, a grocery store, and other retailers.

Food hall on North Avenue: The Mill on North is the name of a food hall that is scheduled to open in the spring of 2024 as the final phase of the $20 million Walbrook Mill community that has taken shape on the former Walbrook Mill and Lumber property in the 2600 block of West North Avenue, near Coppin State University. Other components of the community include apartments, offices and a bank branch.

Remington Yards: In Remington, Seawall Development is moving ahead with plans to build a mixed-use project called Remington Yards (formerly, Sisson East) in the area bounded roughly by Sisson Street on the west, 28^th Street on the south, Hampden Avenue on the east, and 29^th Street on the north. Plans call for offices, apartments, structured parking and retail spaces in a combination of new buildings and existing structures adapted for new uses.

Seawall’s Thibault Manekin also disclosed plans to build apartments in place of the 7-Eleven store at 211 W. 28^th St. after the store lease expires in about a year. In partnership with Onyx Development, Seawall is leading an effort to redevelop the 14-acre Pikesville Armory campus at 610 Reisterstown Road in Baltimore County, a multi-phase development expected to cost $100 million.

Shofer’s Furniture buildings:  Local businessman Henry Shofer asked Baltimore’s preservation commission at a hearing this month to approve demolition of the former Shofer’s Furniture Clearance Center at 107-113 South Charles Street to make way for new development. The commission is expected to hold a second hearing in early 2024 to consider his request.

Another Shofer’s-related property, a former warehouse at 810 Leadenhall Street, has been targeted for conversion to 165 apartments by a group that includes Workshop Development and Consolidated Equities Corporation. The furniture store at 930 South Charles Street closed in 2021 after 106 years in business, and that building is currently on the market. 

Redwood Street corridor: Developers Brad and Kemp Byrnes and others announced plans to convert the former Hotel RL Baltimore Inner Harbor at 207 E. Redwood St. to Redwood Place, an $18.5 million, 130-unit apartment project. Working with developer Brad Gupta, they have brought occupancy of the Redwood Exchange office building at 233 East Redwood Street to 80 percent, after signing a lease with Michael Graves Architecture.

Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake opened The Excel Center, a tuition-free public high school for students aged 21 and older, at 222 East Redwood Street. Space for the high school became available after Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake moved its headquarters from Redwood Street to the Baltimore Gateway office building at 3700 Kopper Street.

The Baltimore Development Corporation announced that it is seeking proposals from developers interested in acquiring the 21-story, city-owned office building at 7 E. Redwood St., possibly for conversion to residences. The deadline for bids is January 22, 2024. The BDC said it is looking for proposals that will preserve the building, which opened in 1924 as headquarters for The First National Bank in Baltimore.

More apartments: In addition to the Hotel RL conversion on Redwood Street, former hotels and office buildings throughout Baltimore’s central business district were targeted for conversion to housing. Three of the biggest projects are Vivo Living’s conversion to 558 apartments of the former Holiday Inn and Radisson Hotel towers at 101 W. Fayette St.; Chasen Companies’ conversion to 173 apartments of the former office building known as One Calvert Plaza; and Trademark Partners’ conversion to 240 apartments of the former Fidelity and Deposit Building and Charles and Lexington streets. That’s 1,098 new downtown residences in just those four projects.

Village of Cross Keys: Caves Valley Partners broke ground at The Village of Cross Keys for the first new building in years for the planned community at 5100 Falls Road. It will contain a two-level restaurant and bar operated by the Atlas Restaurant Group and featuring a moderately-priced “Chinese concept,” along with two other retailers. Caves Valley also welcomed Easy Like Sunday, a breakfast and lunch spot in the Village Square, and announced plans for an “upscale American restaurant” called Cece’s Roland Park, a venture of the Cordish Companies, to open in the spring of 2024.

Harbor Point: Developers of the 27-acre Harbor Point community made progress on several new projects, including the global headquarters of T. Rowe Price and a 500-unit development called Harbor Point Allied | Harbor Point.

Mondawmin Mall: A group led by Whiting-Turner Contracting Company president and CEO Tim Regan is converting the former Target store at Mondawmin Mall to the TouchPoint Empowerment Center, a community hub and resource center intended to help revitalize eight neighborhoods around the mall. 

Johns Hopkins: The Johns Hopkins University made construction progress on two major projects on its Homewood campus, the $250 million Hopkins Student Center on Charles Street and a new home for the JHU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute on Wyman Park Drive.

For its East Baltimore medical campus, Hopkins topped off a 12-story research facility that is replacing the Brady Building on Monument Street and unveiled plans to expand its Bloomberg School of Public Health at 615 N. Wolfe St. with a seven-story addition. Hopkins’ largest completed capital project in 2023 was the 12-level Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue N. W. in Washington D. C., the former Newseum, now the university’s new academic base in the nation’s capital.   

Digital signs: After years in which Baltimore City had a moratorium on the erection of new billboards, a series of illuminated signs began appearing on downtown buildings within a specially-designated district for digital billboards, known as the North Harbor Area of Special Sign Control. More will appear in 2024.

Musical chairs: The law firm of Wright, Constable & Skeen moved its main offices from 7 St. Paul Street in Baltimore to 1 Olympic Place (once known as the Investment Building) in Towson. The law firm of DLA Piper LLP moved from Baltimore County to 650 South Exeter Street in Baltimore City. They’re two of many companies that changed headquarters but remained in the Greater Baltimore metropolitan area. Some moved from Baltimore’s central business District to Harbor Point and Harbor East.

Another case in which Baltimore gained a company headquarters was the decision by the development firm of Greenberg Gibbons to move its headquarters to the 40TEN office building on Boston Street in Canton, bringing in employees previously based in Annapolis and Owings Mills. Built with a heavy timber structural system instead of concrete or steel, 40TEN is also the headquarters of 28 Walker, the building’s developer.

Mount Vernon: Mount Vernon Belvedere Association president Jack Danna announced that the MVBA is working to find a grocery store to replace Eddie’s of Mount Vernon, which closed in June. The former home of Charm City Yoga at 107 East Preston Street will reopen in April as Tribe, a new sort of movement and wellness hub. The Loyola School started construction on an expansion that will incorporate the facades of several 19^th century townhouses in the 100 block of East Madison Street.

After 10 years, scaffolding came down from around the former New Refuge Deliverance Cathedral at Chase and St. Paul streets. Odorite of Baltimore merged with another business and vacated its home at 1111 Maryland Avenue. The Prime Rib restaurant reopened in September after a two-month renovation that signified its owners’ commitment to staying in Mount Vernon.

Inner Harbor anchors: The National Aquarium began construction of Harbor Wetland, a $14 million outdoor exhibit and educational resource that involves the creation of a network of floating manmade wetland “islands” and “learning docks” in the inlet between Inner Harbor Piers 3 and 4.

The Maryland Science Center unveiled preliminary plans to make its campus greener by landscaping the brick plaza leading to its harbor-facing main entrance. Maryland’s Board of Public Works granted a request to spend $4.2 million to demolish the vacant Bard Building at 600 E. Lombard St. and replace it with a temporary green space while the Baltimore City Community College comes up with a new vision for redevelopment of the property.

B&O Railroad Museum: The B&O Railroad Museum announced plans for a $30 million project that will add new exhibits and a public plaza called the CSX Bicentennial Garden. The project involves the renovation of the museum’s South Car Works building and will reorient the museum to face the Pigtown neighborhood. Visit Baltimore presented the museum’s executive director, Kris Hoellen, with its 2023 William Donald Schaefer Visionary Tourism Leadership Award.

Canopy Team: Janet Marie Smith, the architect and urban planner who was instrumental in the design of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, chose Meadow Mill at 3600 Clipper Mill Road to be the location for the East Coast headquarters of Canopy Team, a company that she and CEO Frances “Fran” Weld founded to share their planning expertise with others. They already have clients around the globe.

AIA Firm Award: Quinn Evans, a national design firm with a Baltimore office, received the prestigious Firm of the Year award from the American Institute of Architects in 2023. It’s the first time in many years that an architecture firm in Baltimore has been honored that way. Quinn Evans moved into the Baltimore market when it acquired a local firm, Cho Benn Holback and Associates, in 2017.

Cylburn Arboretum: Representatives for the Cylburn Arboretum Friends and Baltimore’s Department of Recreation and Parks cut the ribbon to open a $7.5 million Nature Education Center at the city-owned arboretum, capping more than a year of construction. The project included the restoration of a two-story carriage house behind the historic Cylburn Mansion at 4915 Greenspring Avenue and a 1,760-square-foot addition called the CFG Exhibit Hall, which houses educational exhibits related to the arboretum and its setting.

Designed by Ziger Snead Architects, the project was the Grand Design Award Winner in the annual design competition sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects. It’s a sign that the city of Baltimore can still be a source of first-rate architecture, especially when it has support from groups as dedicated and resourceful as the Cylburn Arboretum Friends.