Amidst the vacant beeper stores and hair salons along North Howard Street is a Maryland original, the state’s first “crowd-sourced” work of public art.

“TO MARYLAND WITH LOVE,” by Michael Owen, grew out of an effort by the Maryland State Arts Council to get residents to say what they love about Maryland and use their responses to create a “love letter to the state.”

Owen was the artist who created the “Baltimore Love Project” murals around the city that consist of four painted hands spelling out the word LOVE.

Now a Washington, D.C., developer is planning to show a different sort of love for the one-time center of Baltimore retailing that’s been struggling for decades.

Michael Hunter, of the Washington Baltimore Development Company, has unveiled preliminary plans to build Howard Station, a mixed-use development on the east side of the 300 block of North Howard Street, the block containing Owen’s mural.

Hunter’s team controls nine contiguous parcels in the block bounded by Howard, Mulberry, Tyson and Saratoga streets – most of the block.

West Side Gateway

He told members of the Urban Design and Architectural Review Panel (UDARP) yesterday that he wants to save the front portions of many of the buildings and then build a 15-story apartment tower behind them in the middle of the block.

The preserved buildings, team members said, would help maintain the historic feel of the old retail district, while the apartments would house residents who would help bring new life to a mostly deserted stretch of Howard Street.

Hunter said he sees the project as “the beginning of a movement to revitalize Howard Street” by creating a new “West Side gateway.”

“This is about urban living with a retail edge that enlivens the street,” added architect George Holback of Cho Benn Holback + Associates. “What we’re most about is trying to bring back Howard Street.”

According to Holback, the development would include 300 apartments in a range of sizes, 309 parking spaces and about 130,000 square feet of street-level retail space. About 250 apartments would be in the new tower and 50 would be on the upper levels of low-rise and mid-rise buildings along Howard Street.

In the tower portion, levels one to six would be devoted to parking, levels seven to 14 would be for residences, and the top floor would largely be an “amenity” level for residents, he added.

Howard Station’s organization is reminiscent of certain developments in Fells Point and Harbor East where a mid-block parking garage is wrapped or “slipcovered” with residences around the perimeter, except that the slipcover in this case is a mix of existing buildings and infill structures compatible with them.

Howard Station’s design is also similar in concept to the West Side’s Centerpoint Apartments project, which includes high rise housing above a base of preserved structures.

No Detailed Costs

Hunter did not provide information about the construction timetable or total project cost. If each apartment cost $100,000 to build, the residential portion alone would cost $30 million.

Holback said the team does not plan to seek federal funding assistance or tax credits for historic preservation because the developers want flexibility to be able to alter the existing buildings to accommodate new uses without being required to adhere to federal standards for historic preservation.

He explained that the development team plans to save only the first 40 feet of buildings along Howard Street and then cut off the rear portions.

This would provide enough room to build a parking garage topped by apartments on the east side of the property.

At the same time, Holback said, the team is working with the Maryland Historical Trust and the city’s preservation commission and intends to preserve the most significant features of the best buildings along Howard Street, then add infill structures that further reinforce the “street wall.”

The architect said the current plan calls for the mostly glass-clad structure at the southeast corner of Howard and Mulberry streets – not as old as others on the row – to be replaced.

Retaining the first 40 feet of buildings along Howard Street also means that the development team would not need to excavate too closely to the CSX rail tunnel that runs beneath Howard Street, he noted.

Schematic Approval

The review panel members were receptive to the proposal and gave it schematic approval, with comments to consider as the design is refined.

One member suggested making the new apartment tower less tall at the corner of Howard and Mulberry streets. Another suggested a more direct connection between the lobby and the commercial spaces.

The block falls within the Bromo Tower Arts & Entertainment District. If this project moves ahead, it would be one of the most ambitious developments to get underway in the district since it was established in 2012.

Ironically, one casualty of the project may be the LOVE mural.

It is on the south side of one of the Howard Street buildings targeted for retention. The team plans to build a new structure next to it. If that happens, the wall containing the mural would be covered up.