The state ismoving forward on one of the most ambitious Baltimore development projects since the Inner Harbor.
After a series of meetings with residents of the seven neighborhoods surrounding the 25-acre State Center complex, the state has hired the developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse to work on a plan for the project.
The development site, which is bordered by Martin Luther King Boulevard and Madison, Dolphin and Howard streets, now houses 3,500 state workers.
“The complex was built in the 1960s and has too many parking lots,” said Jack Cahalan, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. “We want to get maximum value from the site.”
Once a plan is agreed upon, work on the $800 million project could begin as early as summer 2008, Cahalan said.
There is no estimate yet on how long the redevelopment will take to complete.
In a written statement, Gov. Robert Ehrlich said the existing State Center complex created an “unsightly barrier between the five neighborhoods” in the area that forms the cultural heart of the city.
“Our goal is to remove that barrier and transform it into a unique, open community that will connect the surrounding neighborhoods, create economic opportunity and greatly enhance the quality of life for the thousands who will work there and the thousands more who live nearby,” Ehrlich said.
The prospect of Baltimore?s west side getting more affordable housing, quality office space and upscale retailers will make the improvement of mass transit a priority, said Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee.
“We hope, among other things, this project will serve to strongly motivate the city and state to continue to work together to improve light rail service along Howard Street,” he said.
The site sits above the Baltimore Metro Subway and is adjacent to the Light Rail system and a number of MTA bus lines.
Fry also believes the project will rekindle economic possibilities for area.
“It will help spread the renewal experienced on east side of Baltimore west,” he said.
The planning stages
In the state?s 2005 request for developers, its preliminary concept for redeveloping the site included:
» 3,200 housing units
» 1.2 million square feet of office space
» 570,000 square feet of retail space
» 200-room hotel
