The state of Downtown Baltimore, compared to many of its neighbors like Harbor East, Federal Hill and Mt. Vernon, has been a major concern for our leaders and Downtown Partnership of Baltimore as we have reported in previous articles. While Downtown is home to many businesses, it lacks the vibrancy that has made so many other neighborhoods in Baltimore so popular. In order to create vibrancy, more residents are needed to fill the streets, shops, restaurants and businesses outside of 9-5 M-F. Downtown Partnership has put forth their best effort to create more housing and green spaces to make Downtown more attractive to future and current residents and it appears to have generated a lot of interest in our City’s Central Business District.

More Housing Opportunities

While areas like Harbor East, Little Italy, Federal Hill and Otterbein are technically downtown, City Center and Westside are the areas really looking to add more housing opportunities. The two neighborhoods have seen 130% population growth since the start of the century and currently downtown apartment buildings carry a 97.2% occupancy rate. Six apartment buildings ranging in size are currently under construction and it looks like many more are in the works. Let’s take a look at what is in the works:

– Mechanic Theatre Redevelopment

David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd. has filed a permit to construct two 30-story apartment towers on Charles St. facing Hopkins Plaza. The development will include 600 market-rate apartments and 150,000 sq. ft. of retail space. “There is no overstating the importance of redevelopment at this site,” said Kirby Fowler, President of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. The mix of tenants has not been released, but they are trying to negotiate with some large national retailers as well as adding restaurants and smaller stores.

Downtown Partnership is hoping to eventually demolish the small building to the west of Hopkins Plaza that prevents the Plaza from opening to Westside and the site of First Mariner Arena. Downtown definitely needs an area that feels like the place to be and a huge concentration of housing with retail and restaurants at the bottom surrounding a great plaza could be a very dynamic place. This could have the feel of a more mature Powerplant Live and could really create a great attraction to the new and growing residents of downtown. Downtown Partnership is also hoping to build a Millennium Park-style space at the current First Mariner Arena site which is adjacent to the west of Hopkins Plaza.

One hold up of the project could be permission to demolish the old theatre. “We should find out in the next few weeks what type of hold ups there could be. The planning commission did not approve a recommendation from CHAP to preserve the building, and we support the demolition as well. We have tried for years to get a new tenant in the Mechanic. It is too small for most shows and too big for smaller venues. It has outgrown its usefulness and there are greater options in the area with the Hippodrome and the new Everyman Theatre,” Mike Evitts of Downtown Partnership told SouthBMore.com. “The building will have a required six months of historical protection, so hopefully they can start the project this year, but we will find out in the next few weeks if delays could be anticipated.”

– Super Block and Liberty Park

The $150 million Super Block development and Liberty Park adjacent to the east could add another 388 units to City Center, bordering Westside. The Super Block, which as been delayed for most of the century, is proposing 296 apartment units for the mixed use project hoping to add a lot of retail. The legislation has now cleared for Super Block and a Payment in Lieu of Taxes was discussed yesterday for the project. The developers have been given 8 months to complete the purchase of the properties… hopefully it doesn’t take that long.

Liberty Park is a proposed 14-story apartment tower that will feature 92 apartments on the blighted corner of Fayette and Liberty. The $20 million project is proposing that the building includes 18 low-income units from a tax credit they are seeking. We’ll keep you posted on this project.

-Hot Air Balloon Site at Powerplant Live

The site of the former hot air balloon at Power Plant Live is about to receive a new proposal from developer David Cordish. Many have also speculated that this could be housing. We will keep an eye out for what this proposal looks like and how likely it is to break ground in the near future.

-Announcements Coming

“We will have many announcements in the upcoming months about proposed projects and office-to-apartment conversions. Things were slow during the recession, but there is a whole lot of interest in downtown right now. We have reclaimed our momentum from before the downswing in the economy,” said Evitts. Though downtown continued to grow and gain employees, the effects of the economy were felt the most in regards to the difficulty to develop new projects as lending became very difficult. Evitts also feels that each project can lead to the next one, “capital follows capital.”

A Growing Arts Scene Downtown

Many have credited artists with the re-emergence of cities in America. The idea is that the artists come in when things are cheap, rejuvenate an area and then everyone follows. We have certainly seen that trend in Baltimore as areas like Hampden, Station North and Highlandtown are seeing an emergence, thanks in large part to the art community. It appears Westside is hoping to cash in on this energy.

Baltimore Sun is reporting that 117 acres of Westside could become the Bromo Seltzer Tower Arts and Entertainment District. From the article:

According to the city’s application, the Bromo Tower district would be a long, narrow area bounded roughly by Park Avenue on the east, Lombard Street on the south, Paca Street on the west and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Read Street on the north. It takes its name from the Bromo Seltzer tower, a Eutaw Street landmark that was built by the inventor of the headache remedy and that now houses artists’ studios.

The area is already home to the Hippodrome and the new Everyman Theatre is getting close to completion. “Our Operation Storefront Initiative has already helped many new artist spaces in the area including galleries,” said Evitts.

The city owns many buildings in Westside and it sure would be great to see them turned over to the arts community, as the same strategy has made a huge difference in Station North, which has several huge projects in the works including a market renovation and two new theatre renovations.

Baltimore Business Journal is reporting that Chesapeake Shakespeare Co. will be moving downtown with the purchase of the historic Mercantile Trust and Deposit Co. Building. From the article:

Chesapeake Shakespeare Co. plans to begin renovations early next year and open the theater in 2014. It will include eight-month seasons, as well as after-school and weekend programs for Baltimore students and eventually an international theater festival.

Seeing the difference the Hippodrome has made to the area surrounding it in Westside, Chesapeake Shakespeare Co. should be a great addition to City Center.

It appears there is a lot of momentum downtown and hopefully many of these projects move forward so that our city can show as well as possible to visitors, residents, businesses and employees. Often when visiting another city, most tourists rarely leave the downtown areas unless they get a great recommendation from a local, so it is key for the portion of the city they spend the most time in to show as well as possible. In hopes of gaining more residents and businesses to Downtown Baltimore, a more beautiful, vibrant and safe downtown will become a much greater asset to this city – these are the type of projects that can take Downtown Baltimore to the next level!