Mayor Sheila Dixon has approved the recommendations of the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) of three projects hat will use the city's Recovery Zone Facility Bonds. BDC, on behalf of the City of Baltimore, will enter into 90-day Exclusive Negotiating Privileges with each of the development teams.
The first project is a hotel, Inn at Penn Station, that will transform the vacant, upper floors of Baltimore's historic Penn Station into a 77-room boutique hotel. The hotel will occupy second and third floors and the majority of the fourth floorm though Amtrak will continue to occupythe remainder of the fourth floor. The developer, Penn Station Hotel, LLC, is an entity comprised of Hospitality Partners, LLC, James M. Jost & Company, A&R Development, Inc. and Summit Associates, LLC.
The development group has requested $8.1 million of Facility Bond proceeds; total project costs are estimated to be $12,438,000.
BDC estimates the direct City benefits from this project to be 89 construction jobs, 27 permanent jobs, and over $8.9 million in total new taxes over a 20-year period. In addition to the quantitative benefits, the Inn at Penn Station project will leverage the other redevelopment efforts undertaken and investment made by the City and other public, non-profit and private partners in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.
Marketplace at Fells Point will be a a mixed-used project comprised of two buildings totaling 126,500 square feet, including 160 apartments, 28,500 square feet of ground level commercial/retail space and 118 structured parking spaces. The project is located in the east and west blocks of 600 South Broadway, two blocks north of the corner of Broadway at Thames Street.
The Marketplace at Fells Point developer is South Broadway Properties, LLC, a partnership comprised of David Holmes and Daniel Winner as managing members. South Broadway Properties, LLC is requesting $8 million of Facility Bond proceeds; total project costs are estimated to be $52,046,508.
BDC projects the direct City benefits from the Marketplace at Fells Point project to be 300 construction jobs, 285 permanent jobs, 100 new City residents and over $15 million in total new taxes over a 20-year period.
The final project is the Curtis Bay Energy/Mid-Atlantic Integrated Sustainable Service Center for Healthcare Systems. The project entails construction of a new commercial laundry facility with high efficiency washers, dryers, and processing equipment that will be powered100 percent by steam created by the nearby Baltimore Regional Medical Waste Treatment Facility. The project is located at 3300-12 Hawkins Point Road in Curtis Bay. Curtis Bay Energy, Inc. is owned by Himmelrich Associates, Inc., (Samuel K. Himmelrich, Jr.), the project developer.
Himmelrich Associates owns and manages the Baltimore Regional Medical Waste Treatment Facility, an existing facility for safe and efficient destruction of regulated medical waste.
As a byproduct of the treatment facility's operations, 4.29 MWh of electrical power is produced, and is currently largely unused. The energy byproduct of the treatment facility can be captured and used to power the Laundry Project, providing a clean, renewable energy source.
Himmelrich Associates is requesting $14 million of Facility Bond proceeds; total project costs are estimated to be $29,286,272.
Direct City benefits from the Laundry Project have been estimated by BDC as 95 construction jobs, 150 permanent jobs, and more than $12.9 million in total new taxes over a 20-year period.
Recovery Zone Facility Bonds are a new category of tax exempt private activity bonds authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The ARRA allocates $30.8 million in facility bonds within the City of Baltimore Recovery Zone that was created by an Ordinance of the City Council in July 2009.
"That BDC received so many proposals is a healthy sign that development activity is beginning to pick up in Baltimore," says Mayor Dixon. "We are particularly pleased with the diversity of the three projects selected and their potential to stimulate neighborhood and economic development efforts."
"We were pleased with the array of projects submitted," says BDC President M. J. "Jay" Brodie. "The Recovery Zone Facility Bonds will stimulate our economic development efforts and will help create three projects generating jobs and taxes for the City."
The BDC'sAdvisory Panel (consisting of representatives from the Baltimore Economic Recovery Team � BERT, the Baltimore City Departments of Finance and Housing and Community Development, and BDC, with McGuireWoods LLP and Municap Inc. serving as consultants for legal and financial advice). reviewed the 19 proposals, narrowing them down the three recommendations.
Source: Baltimore Development Corporation
Writer: Walaika Haskins