Ray Lewis just keeps winning ? on and off the field. Part of a team vying for the contract to develop Baltimore?s Gateway South property, Lewis and Cormony Development received the recommendation of the Baltimore Development Corporation just before Christmas. Now, the group must wait for approval from the mayor?s office before contract negotiations can begin.
The project is estimated at more than $200 million.
“We are very excited about receiving the [BDC?s] recommendation,” said Samuel Polakoff, the managing director for Cormony Development. “We are sort of waiting for the mayor to sign off.”
The property is an 11-acre lot located across from the Carroll Camden business park. Situated just east of Route 295, the lot runs parallel to Warner Street. The current plans for the undeveloped property include 600,000 square feet of office space, a waterfront sports and recreation center and the possibility of a 7,200-square-foot inner-city Greyhound bus station. The goal is to create a huge welcome mat for south Baltimore.
“That?s the gateway into the city and what we are looking to provide is a new and enhanced gateway into the city coming from the airport,” said Phil Croskey, director of development west team from the BDC. “The actual selection was made by our board, and they felt that it was a deciding project and it could benefit the residents of the city of Baltimore and it?s a use we haven?t seen in the city.”
A co-developer of the National Bohemian tower on Brewers Hill, Cormony is a young corporation. However, thanks to Lewis teaming up with the Rockville developers, a winning name has given them credibility.
“It was a sort of perfect mutual opportunity, Polakoff said. “Ray Lewis and Cormony were looking for ways to have an additional positive impact in Baltimore and the opportunity presented itself and the [project] made percent sense.”
According to the BDC, the desire to develop this property actually dates back to 2002 as part of Baltimore?s Urban Renewal Plan. A timeline for the project remains up in the air, with many loose ends remaining to be tied.
“That time table will be contingent upon [a contract] being completed,” Croskey said.
