More than two years after the blighted Kingsley Park apartment complex in Essex was demolished, Baltimore County officials said Thursday they are in negotiations with a builder who will likely redevelop it.
Without identifying the company, county spokesman Don Mohler said only one builder fully completed the bid process for the project, viewed as the test for County Executive Jim Smith?s trademark “renaissance” plan for aging county communities. The news comes more than 38 months after the county acquired the property and more than ayear after a coalition of residents and business leaders penned guidelines for its redevelopment.
Mohler said county officials plan to release additional details within eight weeks, and blamed delays on the guidelines and federal oversight.
“We knew this was going to be a challenge from day one,” Mohler said. “We had to find someone to build that design and keep the prices affordable and still make money. This is a private, for-profit company, after all.”
The plan, drafted during a weeklong “charette” process, calls for a mix of senior housing, single-family detached homes and townhomes, with about 200 units in all. The majority must be affordable senior housing, which requires the involvement of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development Department, Mohler said.
The county acquired the property for $2.2 million in June 2004 and razed the 315 low-income apartments in January 2005. Seeing a vacant lot since, several residents said they were concerned developers were put off by the design standards set forth in a “pattern book” developed during the charette.
But Randy Cogar, president of the Essex Renaissance Corp., a private organization advocating redevelopment in the area, said he considers the design guidelines a “gift” to developers. He said residents are willing to modify them if the builder makes reasonable requests.
“I don?t think there was a man or woman who took part who wouldn?t say, ?Well, what would make it work?? ” Cogar said. “There is a total consensus with the community leaders and those involved.”
Another renaissance project is the Yorkway apartment complex in Dundalk, which the county is acquiring for an estimated $17 million. Community leaders will participate in a charette to determine its replacement.
