The owners of 100 Light St. in Baltimore are preparing for life after Legg Mason.
Executives from building manager Winthrop Realty Trust and designers from Baltimore-based Design Collective detailed plans to update the 35-year-old iconic skyscraper at Thursday’s Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel meeting.
Winthrop, managing the building on behalf of owner Lexington Realty Trust, is making plans to refurbish the property in time for primary tenant Legg Mason’s move to Harbor East by the end of 2009.
The group is in the middle of constructing a new 10-story parking garage that will add about 530 spaces and 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail along Lombard Street.
Next up is thinking about updating the building’s plaza, facade and lobby.
“Phase two is really about bringing the building into the millennium,” said John Alba, Winthrop’s chief investment officer. “We’re committed to making it a project that will light up that side of town and bring some more activity to the area.”
Design Collective showed renderings that added green space, trees and glass signage throughout the relatively barren plaza.
“We’d really like to add some greenery to the area,” said Jim Carroll, principal of Design Collective.
Other plans include removing the benches outside the windows to allow unobstructed views from inside the building, updating the lobby and addressing other maintenance issues, like improved waterproofing.
Panel members, after hearing more about the plans, scheduled another meeting with the mangers and designers at 100 Light St. to visualize the potential changes.
“It’s a very good direction for the future of the building,” said panel member M.J. “Jay” Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp.
After the building is updated, Winthrop will focus on finding the next tenant or tenants to fill Legg Mason’s vacancy.
“That is our biggest priority,” Alba said.
