More Progress on the Westside: Fillat on Liberty

While the Superblock is still a largely dormant behemoth waiting for a prince to wake it again (better for the legal dispute with the previously dismissed developer to disappear) and the Weinberg Foundation continues to let the north side of Lexington Street at Liberty Street be a fenced in rather useless "park", a ray of hope comes from across the street:

UDARP reviewed last week the design for the Liberty and Clark parcel to be developed by selected developer Housing Trust of America. The BBJ reports that

The six-story building, called Lexington Gateway, will include housing for a mix of low to moderate income renters and is expected to be subsidized with state tax credits.

Peter Fillat is the architect of record. The team has already completed a similar project on the northern edge of the Westside, the M on Madison and Howard.

Peter Fillat knows the Westside well. He was the architect for the abandoned mixed use Superblock project and he has done an extensive survey of available space on the Westside.

The Baltimore Development Corporation under former Baltimore council member William Cole is stepping up the pace in which it disposes of vacant land and vacant buildings it holds in the area. Cole is working closely with the University of Maryland in a Westside revitalization partnership that ULI had suggested in late 2010. BDC is currently reviewing a consultant report for the renovation of Lexington Market and analyzing the cost and benefits of various scenarios in an advisory capacity to the Market Board.

All images from the BBJ article


Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

ArchPlan Inc., my architecture firm is located in the heart of the Westside. I served for about 10 years on the now disbanded Westside project area committee at BDC. The above project site had been advertised by BDC in previous requests for proposals.