The Canton Crossing mixed-use project hit a growth spurt Tuesday with developer Ed Hale?s announcement of a deal that will double the size of the billion-dollar project.
Hale said an “extremely complex” deal with ExxonMobil was completed Friday and would add a 31-acre parcel to the east of his 1st Mariner Bank Tower to the project. Previously, Canton Crossing had consisted only of a 22-acre western lot between the tower and the Canton waterfront.
The new lot will be dedicated primarily to a 500,000-square-foot, Main Street-style retail development, Hale said Tuesday. He placed the cost of the project in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars.
“People said, ?Why are you going to build an office building here? We can?t even buy towels,? ” he said. “Well, they?re going to get retail and then some.”
Along with the retail venues, the project will include a second office tower to join the existing 17-story tower, 500 condos, a 144-slip marina, a full-service hotel and a 900-foot public promenade.
Hale Properties LLC will partner with commercial developer Greenberg Gibbons of Owings Mills and Williamsburg, Va.-based builder and developer The Bush Cos. on the project.
“Canton is the next logical progression in the redevelopment of Baltimore?s waterfront,” said Andy Viola, regional vice president for The Bush Cos. “We can build on the success of the Inner Harbor and Fells Point.”
Brian Gibbons, president and chief executive officer of Greenberg Gibbons, said he expected construction to start in 14 to 18 months and the first phase of the project to be ready in 2011 or 2012.
Cleanup of the site is expected to begin this summer, and full remediation could take from six months to a year. The area was operated as an oil refinery and terminal by ExxonMobil dating back to the 1890s.
Hale said the exact cost of the cleanup has not been determined but would likely be “in the eight figures.” Cleanup of existing Canton Crossing development cost more than $3 million, he added.
An additional 45 acres of ExxonMobil landare still available on two lots to the north and west of the 31-acre parcel purchased by Hale, according to Andrew Warrell, environmental services manager with ExxonMobil.
Mayor Sheila Dixon was among local politicians on hand for the deal?s announcement, and she praised Hale?s vision of development on the blighted land.
“You know Ed can be crazy, but it?s a good kind of crazy,” she said. “It?s a kind of crazy where things just don?t stay the same.”
