Seeking to fill a demand for housing in Baltimore, apartment developers hope to offer luxury apartments to professionals who want to live in Mount Vernon or downtown.
Working on behalf of a group of private investors, high-end residential developer
Zahlco Properties plans to renovate up to six apartment buildings with 100 total units in Mount Vernon and downtown by next summer, says Yonah Zahler, CEO of Pikesville's Zahlco Properties.
The company hopes to create a new venture, Urban Living by Zahlco, to cater to young professionals who work and want to live downtown.
The first building, a 10,000-square-foot double row house at 16 E. Biddle St. in Mount Vernon, is slated to open for lease in October. The funding group behind the venture has invested $1.3 million to renovate the home and has several million set aside to develop additional properties, Zahler says. He wouldn't specify where the other buildings are located and exactly how much he will spend on them.
Zahler believes there is a demand for high-end housing in Mount Vernon and that the area has always attracted residents.
"Mount Vernon has a unique style of living. It has a Manhattan type of feel that will only grow by the population and workers increasing. Retail will follow," Zahler says.
Maybe it's not New York, but apartment rental rates in Baltimore are keeping up with bigger cities. Baltimore renters paid an average of $1,684 last month, a 12 percent increase compared with July 2011, according to housing market research firm Zillow Inc.
Zahler's apartments will be one to two bedrooms costing no more than $1,400 and $2,000 a month, respectively.
Writer: Alexandra Wilding,
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Source: Yonah Zahler, CEO of Zahlco Properties.