The developer of the $70 million
Union Wharf apartments is hoping to attract tenants with the Fells Point building’s “South Beach” vibe when it opens next month.
The Bozzuto Group's 320,000-square-foot building at 915 S. Wolfe St. features 281 apartments and 12,000 square feet of common space, with a fitness center, bar, screening room, infinity pool and three courtyards. Union Wharf will also include a 4,400 square feet of retail space at the corner of Thames and Wolfe streets, which Bozzuto expects to lease to a restaurant.
“We’ve modeled it close to the amenity spaces that surround a courtyard and the pool on resorts that we’ve seen in places like South Beach,” says Jeff Kayce, vice president of Bozzuto Development.
The market-rate apartments are a mix of studios, one, and two-bedroom units, starting at $1,610 for a studio and topping out at $3,125 for a two-bedroom and a den. About 40 apartments have been leased so far.
Bozzuto is targeting potential renters who are looking for “something unique in Fells Point, who like that neighborhood feel,” says Union Wharf Property Manager Blake Nicholson.
Demand for rentals in downtown neighborhoods remains very high. A 2012 report from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc. notes that occupancy remains “very strong,” at more than 96 percent. The Downtown Partnership’s Outlook 2017 report predicts that downtown could easily add nearly 6,000 new residential units over the next five years.
Union Wharf is just a few blocks east of Harbor Point, where nearly 2 million square feet of office, retail, restaurants, and hotels are being developed. The office space includes the future home of energy giant Exelon Corp.
Bozzuto expects Union Wharf will be certified LEED silver as it has Energy Star appliances, energy efficient windows, and 90 percent of the construction waste was recycled.
“It is really an amenity for the neighborhood and an anchor for that corner of the building there,” says Kayce.
The space is being marketed by H&R Retail, with no confirmed tenant as of yet.
The site is redevelopment of a former industrial property, at various times it was a concrete plant, an oyster packing facility, and an ice house.
“It’s a trophy location, it’s on the water, it’ on a cobblestone street in the heart of Fells Point, so it has wonderful historical context,” Kayce says. “That’s obviously why we’re attracted to it.”
Writer: Amy Landsman;
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Sources: Jeff Kayce, Bozzuto Development vice president, and Blake Nicholson, Union Wharf property manager