Community : Development News

A Massachusetts firm has acquired the rights to develop the retail and apartment component of Marketplace at Fells Point, a $40 million project that is now slated to break ground April 1.

Drew Dolben, senior vice president for the Dolben Co. Inc., says he has acquired the rights for the massive urban redevelopment plan from South Broadway Properties LLC's Dave Holmes. The Dolben Co. has a regional office in Odenton. 

Holmes says he is still involved with the project and is leading a $5 million renovation of the Broadway Market. The recession made financing more complicated and the company realized it needed a partner to see the project get built, he says. With a partner leading the retail and apartment building, South Broadway Properties can focus on the restoration of the market.

The developers of the Marketplace at Fells Point plan to transform the 600 block of South Broadway Street into a "vibrant gateway to historic Fells Point." The transformation will include shops, restaurants and a pedestrian plaza. Streetscape improvements will be a public-private partnership with the city spearheading the design and planning of a pedestrian space called the Square at Fells Point. Planning for that space is currently underway with construction expected to start later this year, Holmes says. 

The extensive project, in the works for several years, also received some federal stimulus funding. But construction on the project, initially slated for January 2011, has been delayed. The group revised it's original plans that included office space and a parking garage after the recession to simply retail and residential space. These changes lowered the total cost of the project.

The company is waiting on the city to issue building permits for the project at 600 S. Broadway and expects the development to take between 18 to 20 months to complete.
 
The project is expected to include 159 apartment units and over 27,000 square-feet of retail space. The company is working with CBRE Group, Inc. to attract food outlets and boutique retailers to lease space.
 
The apartments will be a mixture of one and two bedroom units, and the rents will be consistent with other prices in the area, Dolben says.
 
"We think the Fells Point neighborhood is one of the best residential addresses in Baltimore and a very vibrant area," Dolben says.
 
By acquiring the Marketplace at Fell's Point project, the company wanted to expand its portfolio in the Washington-Baltimore corridor.
 
The company currently has two projects in construction in Maryland, the Village at Odenton Station and the View at Mill Run in Owings Mills. Between developments in Virginia, Maryland and the New England area, the company maintains 11,000 apartment units, Dolben says.
 
Writer: Allie Wilding
Sources: Drew Dolben, Dolben Co. Inc.; Dave Holmes, South Broadway Properties LLC 

South Baltimore could see a new townhouse development if an area developer's plans get approval from Baltimore's zoning board.
 
A planning consulting firm is working with a local developer who plans to build townhouses near Key Highway in Riverside. The townhouses are expected to carry price tags around $400,000.

Baltimore's AB Associates submitted plans for zoning approval from the city for 14 three-story townhouses with rooftop decks, and most with two-car garages at the intersection of Harvey and Lawrence Streets bordering Locust Point. The site is one block from the Baltimore Museum of Industry. 
 
The plans will go before the city's Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals Feb. 7.
 
If approved, construction could begin on the townhouses this year, and hit the market early next year, says Al Berry, principal of AB Associates. Berry says he's working on behalf of developer Ray Jackson, who owns the property.
 
Berry believes the location near the proposed townhouses just off Key Highway and close to the exit for I-95 will appeal to many homebuyers. Additionally, Berry expects the price point to suit buyers looking to move into the city.
 
"The neighborhood has always been strong for development and housing value," Barry says. He says he doesn't yet know the development cost. 
 
The land where the proposed townhouses sit belonged to the late Vincent Rallo, owner of Rallo's Restaurant. The planned site served as a parking lot for Rallo's Restaurant.
 
The homes will be designed modern industrial style and will all face onto an extensively landscaped interior court, says Berry.
 
Architectural work for the proposed project is being handled by SETO Architects LLC in Mt. Vernon, Berry sats.
 
Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: Al Berry, principal of AB Associates
 

Ernestine Brown is on a mission to help women look their best without having to break the bank.
 
Brown opened Sister Ernie B's Sassy Seconds, a consignment shop in the Belair-Edison neighborhood this month to provide an alternative destination for women who want to look good while on a budget.
 
"It's hard to go out to our favorite stores, Macy's, Nordstrom, so we're being wiser with our spending. But it doesn't change the fact that we like to look good," says Brown.
 
In addition to a consignment shop, Sister Ernie B's Sassy Seconds is a women's handbag and accessory boutique.
 
Brown hopes to woo savvy, working women with her shop at 3428 Belair Rd., in the Belair-Edison Main Street district.
 
"I'm excited because Belair Road is a busy main street in the city and we have a little something for everyone with a price base that everyone can afford," Brown says.
 
The shop is currently seeking consigned items for a period of 90 days. If the clothing sells, the price is split evenly between the consigner and the store. Items that do not sell can be returned or donated to the women's recovery house that Brown runs, Sister to Sister, Heart to Hrt. 
 
Additionally, Brown plans to use the consignment shop as a training opportunity for some of the women involved in the recovery house to reestablish job skills.
 
A Baltimore native, Brown has long shopped at consignment stores around the city, and aspires to educate more people about the value of consignment shops.
 
She sees her business as an extension of her desire to help others change their lives for the better. In time, she also hopes to provide jobs for youth in the neighborhood at the shop in which she invested all of her savings.
 

Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: Ernestine Brown, owner of Sister Ernie B's Sassy Seconds

A $3 million renovation is planned for the Waverly Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, though it still needs approval from Baltimore’s Urban Design and Architecture Review panel.
 
The panel heard renovation plans for the 41-year-old Waverly Library this month from Margaret Martin, chief of design and construction for Baltimore's department of general services, and Stephanie Schaefer, regional manager at Buchart Horn, Inc.
 
The panel was disappointed by the plans and recommended several changes to the architects including the creation of a grand reading room with lots of natural light.
 
Martin and Schaefer were asked by the city's design panel to make changes to their renovation plans before returning to the panel.
 
But despite the panel’s feedback, the Waverly library remains on track for renovations, library spokeswoman Roswell Encina says.
 
She says the library is reviewing comments from the community and the design panel on its plans and will release more details on the renovation soon.
 
The library sits at the intersection of 33rd and Barclay Streets in a neighborhood that the city is targeting for urban renewal projects.
 
The proposed floor plan calls for a multipurpose room, a reading room, and separate adult and child's reading areas. Planned green spaces around the library are intended to encourage the community to plant gardens, Martin say.
 
"We want to get the community to take ownership of the library like with the Waverly Farmer's Market," he says.
 
The Waverly library was last renovated in 1986. Other branches of the Enoch Pratt Free Library that have recently been renovated include Edmondson Avenue, Orleans Street, and the Southeast Anchor Library. The Canton branch is the next to be updated, and is currently closed for renovations. 

Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Sources, Roswell Encina, Waverly Library; Margaret Martin, Baltimore City 

A nonprofit developer has purchased a vacant building on North Avenue that it hopes to transform into restaurants, galleries, artists studios and theater space within three years.

Jubilee Baltimore is talking to Joe Squared’s Joe Edwardsen about the possibility of his opening a Mexican restaurant at the 10 E. North Ave. property, Edwardsen and Jubilee President Charlie Duff say. The developer is also in talks with Single Carrot Theatre, which has been scouting for a space with more seating capacity.

Jubilee Baltimore Inc. bought 10 E. North Ave. from Greater Grace Church at a public city auction this month for $93,000.  The state estimates the land and 67,000-square-foot building is worth more than $2 million, public records show.

The eventual transformation of the three-story building will require a major rehab, Duff says. He doesn’t yet have a cost estimate as to what the renovation will cost.

“North Avenue needs cool things happening,” Duff says. “There isn’t enough space in Station North – that’s why we bought this building. We want to make it one of the key arts and entertainment building in Baltimore.”

Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Charlie Duff, Jubilee Baltimore; Joe Edwardsen, Joe Squared

Two theater managers are scouting the west side and the Station North Arts and Entertainment District for a performance space that can hold its new arts organization.

J. Buck Jabaily and Philip Arnoult have launched Baltimore Open Theatre with the goal of reaching younger audiences through the use of social media. (See related story). The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation has committed $50,000 in seed money and a $150,000 challenge grant for the venture.

Jabaily, one of the founders of Single Carrot Theatre, says he needs a 7,500-square-foot space that can seat 160. Other requirements include tall ceilings -- at least 16-feet high -- and no pillars that would obstruct the view. Since Baltimore Open Theatre will host plays, dance and other performances, they need a spot that is flexible and can be adapted for different uses.

“We’re open to non-traditional spaces,” Jabaily says. The space doesn’t have to be a theater currently, though it should be easily converted into one without a huge capital investment.

“We don’t have the finances to gut something,” he says. Arnoult, who founded the Theatre Project 40 years ago, says he hopes to commit to a space in the next month.

Writer; Julekha Dash
Sources: Buck Jabaily and Philip Arnoult, Baltimore Open Theatre.

The Y of Central Maryland has opened a new childhood development center in downtown Towson, replacing a 20-year-facility.

The Y is leasing the 6,100-square-foot space at 301 W. Chesapeake Ave., which was renovated by Timonium’s Obrecht Properties LLC. The new space houses six classrooms and can serve 80 children, ages two to five.

It is one of more 20 early childhood sites the Y operates, including Head Start programs, that serve more than 1,500 children. The move is one of several Y initiatives to expand resources for families throughout Central Maryland.

“We continuously look for ways to improve our curriculum and help young kids be better prepared to enter kindergarten,” Y Chief Marketing Officer Sara Milstein says.

Last year, the Y expanded its Carroll County facility and opened a new one in Parkville.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Sara Milstein, Y of Central Maryland

The owners of Waterfront Kitchen in Fells Point hope to expand their “mission-driven” business with a new catering operation next year.

Waterfront Co-owner Charles Nabit says that in January he will begin hunting for a space for the new venture. He is looking for a spot that is approximately 1,500 square feet.

The catering firm may rely on ingredients from the Living Classrooms Foundation’s Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) program, which serves inner-city kids. The 175-seat Waterfront Kitchen sources its ingredients from BUGS. It also hired several employees from Living Classrooms’ Project Serve, which provides job training to at-risk men and women.

Nabit says he is not sure how many the catering operation will employ because it is still in the planning stages. He and partner Michael Klein spent $1.5 million to open Waterfront Kitchen in the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park. Patrick Sutton Interior Design outfitted the space.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Charles Nabit

A community center providing services and programs for underserved families will open in a historic rehabilitated firehouse Thursday in the Perkins Homes community.

Called the P.O.W.E.R. House, which stands for Providing Opportunities to Work, Expand, and Rise, the community center is the latest facility created by the Living Classrooms Foundation. It is located at 316 S. Caroline St., just north of Fells Point.

With 688 units, Perkins Homes is one of the largest public housing developments in Baltimore City. Having a community center in the middle of Perkins Homes without having to travel outside of the neighborhood will be an asset, says Living Classrooms CEO James Piper Bond.

“It’s going to be a beacon of hope for the community, and we’re honored to lead the way,” Bond says.

The project is six years in the making, and a partnership between the public and private sectors. The house has received support from a variety of foundations and companies including Commercial Interiors and SunTrust Bank, Bond says.

Some of the amenities include multipurpose rooms for community meetings, after-school activities, a computer lab, and a financial literacy center. The Perkins Homes Tenant Council will also have an office in the space.

Living Classrooms will a offer after-school and summer programming on site for youth in education and career development, civic development, health and life skills and the arts.

The P.O.W.E.R. House is located within Living Classrooms’ Eastside Target Investment Zone, an initiative that seeks to provide opportunities and create safer neighborhoods for underserved communities through education and workforce development.

Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: James Piper Bond, Living Classrooms

In cooperation with One Green Home at a Time, a home rehabilitation company building energy-efficient homes in East Baltimore, the Pat Tillman Foundation brought over 90 military veterans to the Oliver neighborhood for a clean-up day on July 11. Pulling weeds, clearing debris, and straightening fences, "We pretty much covered the majority of the Oliver community," says Earl Johnson, Executive Director of One Green Home at a Time and himself an Army veteran.

An estimated 200 more volunteers from local non-profit organizations The 6th Branch, Baltimore BORN, One Green Home, Baltimore Love Project, and the Veteran Artist Program joined nearly 100 Tillman Military Scholars in their day of service coordinated with the Pat Tillman Legacy Summit, which is named for the former college and professional football star who was killed by friendly fire while serving as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan.

One Green Home at a Time and its financial arm, Bridge Private Lending, purchased 40 homes in the Oliver neighborhood from the city in May and is currently coordinating funds for complete renovation. The 3-window-wide rowhomes are eligible for historic tax credits and will be standardized to share energy-efficient floor plans and other design features.


Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Earl Johnson, One Green Home at a Time

In June, the Living Classrooms Foundation broke ground on a new youth sports field in Patterson Park with the support of Under Armour and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. As that project moves forward, Living Classrooms is adapting a historic two-story firehouse on Caroline Street in the Perkins Homes community.

The first floor of the firehouse will include a multi-purpose space for after-school programming to add to the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center on East Fayette Street. The first floor will also include a community technology center. The second floor will hold offices for Living Classrooms staff and the Perkins Homes Tenant Council as well as conference rooms and space for community health fairs.

Perkins Homes is part of the Living Classrooms Target Investment Zone in East Baltimore, and the firehouse will be renovated with the help of participants in Project SERVE, Living Classrooms' initiative to lower recidivism and raise the employment rate among those re-entering Baltimore communities following incarceration.


Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Talib Horne, Living Classrooms

The head of Baltimore's Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Foundation says an expansion of Maryland's million-dollar Community Investment Tax Credit program to include corporate donors could help non-profit organizations expand their physical investments in the city, in addition to boosting programming.

"When I directed Light Street Housing, we used the CITC program to develop new relationships and garner tens of thousands of increased donations," says Knott Foundation executive director Greg Cantori.

Under the CITC, organizations that have received grants from foundations or other grantmakers can distribute tax credits to donors in order to spur more strategic giving. Donors, in turn, receive a tax credit that can be added to state and federal deductions the same year, or rolled over for as many as five years.

Donors can find non-profit organizations that match their giving goals and have available tax credits on the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's GIVE Maryland site, here: http://www.mdhousing.org/givemaryland/


Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Greg Cantori, Knott Foundation

A 275-bed homeless shelter opened this month in Baltimore, part of the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness.

The 30,000-square-foot Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Housing and Resource Center at 620 Fallsway holds a cafeteria, day rooms, job training, and a convalescent care program.

Funding for the $8 million construction comes from the state, city, and foundations, including the Abell Foundation, the France-Merrick Foundation, and the Weinberg Foundation.

The city has set up a website, endinten.org, to outline its 10-year-plan to end homeless, says Kate Briddell, director of homeless service programs for Baltimore City. The plan to try to address the leading causes of homelessness, including lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and access to healthcare services.

Addressing the problem is tough in this economy when many people are out of work, Bridell says.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Kate Bridell, Baltimore City

A Baltimore nonprofit recently broke ground on a $9.2 million homeless shelter facing Patterson Park.

Dayspring Baltimore is constructing a 43,000-square foot building at 1125 N. Patterson Park Ave. that will house 22 families, four Head Start classrooms and offices for the nonprofit's 37 employees.

Funding for the facility comes from the New Market Tax Credit equity, city and state funds, the Weinberg and Abell Foundations and PNC Bank.  

Dayspring Programs Inc. provides housing, substance abuse treatment an support services to homeless families. It has an operating budget of around $4.4 million and serves 600 individuals.

Infrastructure work has begun on Turf Valley Town Square, a retail and restaurant complex in Ellicott City anchored by a Harris Teeter grocery store to open next spring.

Developed by Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., the open-air shopping center will contain features similar to the developer's Hunt Valley Towne Centre, with a "Main Street," landscaped gardens, piped-in music, and an outdoor fireplace.

Located near Route 70 and Marriottsville Road, the 150,000-square-foot shopping center is near Turf Valley resort and Turf Valley Overlook homes.

"We are absolutely looking forward to it being an important part of the Turf Valley community," says Gina Ellrich, a spokeswoman for Turf Valley owners Mangione Enterprises LLC. "It's an extension of what's there."

The grading and sewer installation has been completed and construction will begin in the fall, Ellrich says.

Turf Valley Town Square will contain a number of smaller specialty shops. Neither Ellrich nor Tom Fitzpatrick of Greenberg Gibbons would name other shops slated for the development.

Anchored by a Wegmans, Hunt Valley Towne Centre's shops include California Pizza Kitchen, Best Buy, Carraba's Italian Grill, White House/Black Market, and Ann Taylor Loft.

The Turf Valley site will also include a separate office complex, 160,000 square feet of office space and 150 townhomes and 192 condominiums built by the Keelty Co. of Stevenson.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Gina Ellrich, Ellrich Communications