The suburban office park struggles to survive

The death of anything is usually not good news, but here is an exception: reports of the death of the suburban office park may be exaggerated but they are welcome to anyone who has seen the damage those office parks in the middle of nowhere are doing to landscapes, cities and those who have to work there.

Rutherford Office Park in Woodlawn, Baltimore County

PES, a DC based economic consultant just inside the District line from Maryland and run by by Anita B. Morrison and Abigail B. Ferretti, studied Montgomery County's office parks and came away with stunning, but not entirely surprising insights such as this:

By mid-year 2014, 11 large Montgomery County office buildings totaling 2.25 million square feet stood almost or totally vacant, and another nine, totaling 1.4 million more square feet, were “almost totally available,”

The numbers, to be honest, show a weakness in the overall regional office market, not just Montgomery County and not just single use office parks.

“Plentiful free parking is no longer sufficient to attract tenants,” the report finds.
In desirable submarkets with lower vacancy rates, public transportation access and mixed-use environments, recovery will come faster. For single-use office parks, “new construction will come much more slowly.”

Rutherford Park: Greenery, parking and easy beltway access are not enough

The study’s results may not shock, but they are sobering. And this is by no means only a Montgomery County issue. More than 71 million square feet of office space is vacant across the D.C. region. Fairfax County, Va., accounts for the largest share, 28 percent, followed by D.C. with 22 percent, Montgomery with 15 percent and Prince George’s County with 7 percent. In Loudoun, Va., huge swaths of land are zoned for office parks that have not been built because there’s no leasing interest.

Baltimore area office parks are located in the County along I-695 on the west (The Rutherford Park near Martins West), in Hunt Valley and Owings Mills.  Except for the westside, the other areas are struggling to become mixed use "town-centers", a move that cannot come fast enough if the PES study is representative.

The study’s recommendations:

• Diversify existing office parks with a mix of uses
• Invest in transit
• Use tax-increment financing to fund parking garages that eliminate surface parking lots, freeing up land for infill development
• Create and upgrade public spaces and the “walkable environment"
• Remove “any zoning impediments” to redevelopment

PES' recommendation #2 makes transit an asset that speaks for Hunt Valley and Owings Mills and an argument that applies to both the Red and the Purple lines that would both increase access to office parks and employment centers.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA


BBJ article about the PES report

The post-steel future of Sparrows Point

If one looks at the great post industrial reclamations from the Ruhr valley in Germany to the rebirth of Pittsburgh and the High Line in New York, the Docklands in London or Hafen City in Hamburg, one wonders if Maryland spent enough time thinking about the future of one of the greatest sites of all, Sparrows Point. 

Already the great monuments of steel making are largely leveled, re-purposing was not considered. History obliterated.

Demolition at Sparrows Point (Sun photo)

The site deserves as much consideration as, say, the old Stapleton Airport site in Denver, place of a whole new city based on competitions and lots of masterplanning. It doesn't seem to happen where Bethlehem steel once stood. Instead of a public debate the private owner commissioned a masterplan and parts of the site are already assigned to warehousing and the like. 

Not likely that something as great as Bethlehem Steel will rise there again. Instead pragmatic, impromptu and maybe useful stuff will spring up. As County Councilman Todd Crandell puts it, "I am glad there is an owner who is willing to stick with this for a a longer time, not just suck profits out and leave and has the capacity to deal with the big environmental issues.
Greatness which would be responsive to the stunning qualities of this site would take a very hard push. Now would be the time to ensure that such a masterplan as conceived, not only one that administers opportunities that happen to come along. 

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

SUN article

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-sparrows-point-tour-20150622-story.html
BBJ article

updated after an inquiry with Councilman Crandell.

the stunning location of Sparrows Point

Port Authority Sites in relation to Sparrows Point

Another chapter in the the long history of the Congress Hotel

Zahlco, a company based in Pikesville and Toronto has bought the Congress Hotel on 306 West Franklin Street for $3 million, a price that is lower than the renovation cost was 15 years ago. The company plans to spend another million dollars to upgrade the place and increase the rents by 20-30%. The building is currently almost fully occupied except for the commercial and retail spaces on the first floor.

Congress Hotel as seen from the alley across Franklin Street

From a 1999 SUN article:

"Doing the Congress has been a dream of mine for many, many years, and now maybe it will finally come true," he said. "I think that with the city's newfound interest on the west side, [it] will be a showpiece for the area and a catalyst for additional development. All of the studies show there is a pent-up demand for housing" on the west side.

Ted Rouse, a partner of Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, said he is especially encouraged by other development near the Congress, such as the Gallery Towers apartments at 111 E. Centre St. and the conversion to office space of the former Hochschild Kohn warehouse at Park Avenue and Centre Street.

Rouse said he expects the apartments to attract young urban professionals and others who want to live within walking distance of downtown Baltimore and cultural institutions such as the Peabody Institute.

"We think the neighborhood is improving and there's a renaissance of interest in downtown housing," Rouse said. "This is such a beautiful, historic building. There's a growing recognition that the Charles Street corridor can expand" and "the 500 and 600 blocks of Howard St. can be an anchor for activity."

With a project cost of over $5 million in 2000 the original team sold the property in 2013 for 2.35 million. The sale of $3 million in 2015 shows recent appreciation but a loss for the original rehab team. That is not too surprising if one takes current conditions and compares them with the aspirations Ted Rouse had in 1999. The 500 and 600 block of Howard Street are still in the same condition they were then, even though 521 Park Avenue is a strong indicator for a better future. One would wish that the pitch given in the advertisement for the Congress would be closer to reality:

A beautiful historic landmark in a cosmopolitan neighborhood, The Congress offers luxurious amenities and remarkable conveniences. The Congress is situated near the Seton Hill Market Center and surrounded by prestigious Mt. Vernon communities. Boutiques, theaters, museums, concert halls and first class dining fare are all within a short stroll. A variety of distinct floorplans to choose from, all have been remarkably updated, you'll find everything you need with all the comforts of home and the convenience of downtown living. With its classic architecture and charming atmosphere, The Congress stands in a class of its own.

 As for Winstead Rouse, son of the legendary Jim Rouse, he still believes in the Westside and is currently pursuing a theater coop in the  400 block of Howard Street. As I noted earlier in a separate posting, there is indeed much progress in the area, it is just coming later than anticipated.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

BBJ article
1999 article when renovation was announced

Don't move train station from Main Street

Protest

A request to move the Laurel MARC train station to the races a mile or so to the north would be counter to previously stated policies of supporting small towns, main streets and historic town cores.

The vice president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, Sal Sinatra, suggested moving Preakness from Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course to Laurel Park last month. (Capital Gazette)

Laurels historic train station at the foot of its Main Street, place of an impressive annual Fourth of July parade, is key to Laurel's identity as an incorporated small town, the only one in Prince George's County that has its own zoning authority. A station makes a town a real place, maybe more so than even city hall. 

The station was also key to several recent TOD initiatives of MDOT that includes new apartments near the station and a restoration of the station building itself. 

HANOVER, MD (December 3, 2009) - Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley today announced the award of exclusive negotiating rights to Patriot Realty of Rockville to develop a transit-oriented development at the Laurel MARC Station.  This award moves this planned Smart Growth development one more step forward in creating a mixed-use project that will provide retail, office and residential space around one of the busiest transit stations along the MARC Camden line."By creating development and density around established transit stations, we can improve the adjacent communities, increase transit use and create a better environment by reducing the number of cars on the road," said Secretary Swaim-Staley.  "Governor O'Malley has made Transit-Oriented Development projects a top priority because they link land use and transportation in a way that benefits both residents and the environment." (MDOT press release)

The idea of moving the station has come up before, for decades actually, originally revolving around the lack of parking at the Main Street station. The Laurel Race Track station already exists as a on demand stop and the 2020 MARC masterplan indicates expanded parking there but not moving the downtown Laurel station.

The Laurel Trains station before renovation work

Laurel Train Station, a designated historic structure

It had just seemed that a new understanding of urban design that sees a station as a center of activity and not a center of a parking lot prevailed for good. 

But there is always an opportunity of reverting from smart growth back to dumb growth. Let's hope, though, this isn't the case in Laurel a town struggling to hold its own in a sea of sprawl. 

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

Capital Gazette article:

Baltimore Heritage recognizes successful Baltimore preservation projects

Last night preservationists convened at the historic refurbished bank that is now the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theater downtown to celebrate successful historic preservation across Maryland.

Notable preservation designs that received awards from Baltimore Heritage included the Fells Point Police Station, the Shakespeare Theater, 520 Park Avenue, the second floor renovation above City Cafe and MICA's conversion of 1801 Falls Road into their Social Design department and many others.

Daniel Henson (second from right) and his team receiving the award for their upper Fells Point project Fells Point Station

Marty Azola received the Douglas Gordon Award for his many decades of developing outstanding preservation projects from the Towson jail to the just recently completed Ivy luxory hotel.  

Maybe most memorable was Mark Thistel's introduction for the award to the Downtown Partnership for their 2011 initiative of the downtown designation of historic landmarks, a significant change of mind regarding historic preservation.

Among the awards were two about historic Baltimore communities. Naturally, I am happy to report that the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation  (DHCDC) and "Community Architect" ArchPlan, my firm, got one of the historic communities awards for restoring 10 historic but completely dilapidated rowhouses on Druid Hill Avenue and McCulloh Street for first time homebuyers. (The DHCDC Gateway Development). MC Mark Thistel did not fail to mention that those homes are located within a 1/2 mile of North and Pennsylvania Avenues, the core area of the West Baltimore unrest, an area with scarce investment.

This was not an easy task, because those houses were mere ruins (see photos below) when we started under a program for tax credits really designed for homeowners and not a CDC.  There were marble wainscot panels to be collected in the basements and installed back at the entry vestibules, balusters to be constructed from scratch while newel posts that had somehow miraculously survived in some instances needed to be kept. One ruin had to be clawed back from city condemnation and all had to be documented in the lovely three part tax credit applications to be filled out for each property individually and approved by both the Maryland Historic Trust (MHT) and the National Park Service. 

There is some irony to the current condition that such buildings either perish entirely by neglect or they are restored to the famous Standards of the Secretary of the Interior which are, shall we say, meticulous. There should be something between these extremes, but that is another story. 

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

The Druid Heights Community is a once flourishing rowhouse community
where enough of the fabric and many occupied homes still line major arteries like McCulloh and Druid Heights
that demolition would be a bad option.

From the front houses still look reasonably intact 

From the inside utter devastation makes historic preservation according to the rules an almost impossible task

Features like the mosaic tiles, the ceiling medaillons, the plaster moldings and stair railings need to be
painstakenly restored or reconstructed.

Stair configurations, locations and railing details had to be restored to a state as they used to be when intact

Roscoe Johnson of the Druid Heights CDC sits on a
reconstructed stair

From the DHCDC website:

The Gateway Housing Development (Gateway) targeted vacant buildings existing between the 1800 – 2200 blocks of McCulloh Street and Druid Hill Avenues. These streets serve as the main entry and exit through fares for the neighborhood. The Gateway Development will also rehabilitate vacant houses on targeted blocks in order to stabilize that area of the community.

The Druid Heights community is located within the Old West Baltimore Historical District. The revitalization of the homes will provide opportunities for potential homeowners to benefit from Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit issued by Maryland Department of Planning and the Maryland Historical Trust.

All houses will include “Green Building” amenities that will include modern kitchens and bathrooms with all new appliances. The houses will contain all new roofing, flooring, and heating, plumbing and central air conditioning systems. The total square footage of the houses ranges from 1,400 – 2,257. Sales prices start at $109,000.

Add caption

A growing cluster of galleries in the Bromo District

With the large and abandoned Metro West office complex looming to the west, the 500 block of West Franklin Street has an unassuming presence with its small houses forming a neat row and edge of the historic Seaton Hill Community extending north. On the South side of the block a large former assisted living complex is currently being transformed into student housing catering to the nearby University of Maryland.

The small storefronts are notoriously hard to fill these days and have seen a steady turnover in recent years from vacant to hair-salon to clothing store back to vacant. But lately the landlord who owns most of these properties, the French Company, has mined the new vibes of the Bromo Arts and Entertainment District by leasing one after the other of the stores to artists for their studios and galleries. Freddy, Open Space,

The latest will be the First World gallery in the place of the former Hair Salon "Perfect Ten" which moved a few buildings to the west into a former McDonalds drive through building. Yesterday you artists were seen carrying out stained drywall to spruce the place up for the brandnew gallery. "It is exciting" one of them said. They promised to keep the storewindows open unlike their neighboring gallery which installed frosted glass.

In support of the galleries including the artists in the H&H camping building Gallery Four a new coffee shop will open across the street on the ground floor of 429 N. Eutaw Street. Tentative name: New American Diner. And to top it off: the Contemptary and Deana Haggag will set shop next to the planned cafe. 

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

Gallery Freddy, Franklin Street

Overview of new activities here

Besides the official Bromo Arts District employees, projects in this area are overseen by bevy of energetic people and offer many other options besides the city’s older established alt spaces. There is the long running Gallery Four, the appropriately namedCurrent, the irony-laden Freddy, the collective Open Space, young and energetic Platform Gallery, the new hyper EMP Collective and more. Not far away on Saratoga Street, housed inside Maryland Art Place, is the godmother of the new West side scene: the long running 14Karat Cabaret.

Making stuff in the postindustrial city

This is the West Baltimore Ice House, now a derelict shell. It was here where ice was made until not all that long ago.

Baltimore is full of such reminders of our past industrial strength. Will making come back to "legacy cities" like Baltimore as manufacturing, as maker spaces or in some other not yet discussed form? 

If you have suggestions, examples, sources for the topic, please send to info@archplan.com for this week's blog article on Community Architect.

Factories in the Carroll Camden Industrial Park

Factories in the Carroll Camden Industrial Park

Factories in the Carroll Camden Industrial Park

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

How Maker Spaces help local Economies

Anirban Basu's Five Recommendations for a "City on the Hill" - MostlyWrong?

When I read Anirban Basu's opinion piece about Baltimore in the wake of the unrest today (see in full below), I felt compelled to write a rebuttal. (Opinion pieces is not what I  usually do in these daily updates).

Basu's comments all come from the perspective of a man who looks in as a possible business investor or a visitor from another place or the suburbs, not from the perspective of the communities in dire straits, the biblical allusion of "the city on the hill" not withstanding. I can see now why Hogan used him as an adviser.

Economist Basu, a frequent commentator and
adviser in the region.

On his five points, I disagree with four:

1. Reduce the council: I don't think council-manic salaries are a relevant factor in the city's expenses. To have fewer council people, i.e. larger districts will make council people less accountable to their constituents, not more and does not solve the "fiefdom" problem he correctly describes. 

2. Tear down, baby, tear down. It is the rownhouses that he wants torn down at a "Detroit pace" that make the very fabric of our city. I have rehabbed many houses on Fulton Avenue, Monroe, Mount and Carey Streets, on Druid Hill Avenue and McCulloh Street and also done some new construction on Baker Street. Even if full gut rehab is costly, there is no way to replicate the grandeur and beauty of those old big rowhouses and their rich architecture with the type new construction we do or can afford today. Besides, don't forget, there still live people in between the vacants! I say, use Boston and DC as a model, they re-filled their vacants and tore down only a few. 

3. Tax reductions: I agree. The reductions alone will be made up by new growth drawn in by lower property taxes. Basu should advise Hogan to have the State secure the difference so the city can do tax reductions at a faster pace and with less risk.

4. A new Arena and expanded convention center? This is particularly disappointing from an economist. Study after study shows that these investments rarely ever pay off for cities and that the market for conventions is hopelessly overbuilt. Who paid him to stick this recommendation in or does he really believe that the continuation of mega projects will get the city on a sound footing?

5. Panhandling: This one takes the cake. It is panhandlers who keep the city down! Good God, if anyone ever had the economics backwards! 

More in depth articles on urban revitalization, investment and community development can be seen on my blog Community Architect.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

Baltimore SUN:

Baltimore will get better, but only if we make it so

By Anirban Basu, Elizabeth Martin

Five ideas to make Baltimore better, starting with a smaller City Council.

It's tough to be from Baltimore. Friends supply assurances that things will get better, but we can't simply hope that time will heal most wounds. We are in trouble, and we are not nearly the city we want to be. Here are five ideas we hope can push us closer to being a city on the hill.


1. Employ fewer council people.

We support 15 members on the Baltimore City Council; 14 are elected by district, and a president is elected at large. Since there are 14 legislative districts in Baltimore, each elected member is a monopolist — head of his or her own fiefdom. This lends itself to political favoritism. Moreover, having so many council people makes it difficult to hold them accountable; there are simply too many to monitor. A recent Baltimore Sun review of nearly 700 City Council committee votes indicates that about a quarter of council members miss their committee votes. Three members missed more than half their votes.
There are also finances to consider. Each of these council people "earn" more than $60,000 per annum serving in these part-time positions in a city of a bit more than 620,000. Other communities support fewer council people and seem to get by just fine. San Francisco, with a population of more than 850,000, has 11 council members; vibrant Seattle, home to more than 650,000 people, supports only nine council members; and Baltimore County, with a population greater than 825,000, supports seven.


2. Tear down vacant homes at a Detroit-like pace.

Whether during the riots or their immediate aftermath, images of Baltimore's abandoned housing stock were on display. Why is this housing stock still in existence? The mayor and City Council are already the largest owners of real estate in Baltimore, and they have significant control over those property owners who have code violations attached to their properties, unpaid taxes and water bills. Detroit figured it out. They recently increased their pace of demolitions from 200 homes per month to 200 per week, though they've also run into funding issues this year.


3. Offer property tax reductions every year without fail.

In her most recent budget, the mayor failed to offer a property tax reduction. Mistake. People are willing to buy into an enterprise with promise even before much of that promise is realized. In financial markets, people search for the next hot stock — the company that's under the radar screen but loaded with potential. Today, Baltimore's property tax rate is not competitive. But more middle class residents will buy into the city if there is a credible promise that the city will chip away at its tax rate year after year. City Hall hasn't bought into this notion yet, but eventually, someone farsighted will.


4. Build a new arena and expand the convention center.

Baltimore obviously has bigger issues than an outdated arena and inadequately sized convention center. But investing in new visitor and meeting capacity is important and represents a way that the state of Maryland can constructively support Baltimore's beleaguered business community. This past legislative session, the governor and general assembly did a credible job dealing with the bulk of the state's structural fiscal shortfalls. For now, the state's AAA bond rating seems secure. Let's leverage that into investment that creates jobs and causes people to reconsider Baltimore.


5. Say no to aggressive panhandling.

We call it the central business district for a reason. Downtowns are about commerce; no shame in that. But wherever one goes, whether in front of Camden Yards or at any prominent intersection, there are panhandlers, many of them aggressive and persistent. In 2011, New Orleans passed a law against aggressive panhandling in its French Quarter including approaching or following pedestrians, repetitive soliciting, or the intentional blocking of pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The city bans panhandling in or near parks and playgrounds. Perhaps most importantly, panhandling cannot occur within 20 feet of an intersection or market crosswalk.

It is time for Baltimore to remind the balance of the world that we can be a gracious, welcoming and charming city. Driving away business and tax base helps no one, particularly those who rely most upon city services.


Anirban Basu (abasu@sagepolicy.com) was a member of Gov. Larry Hogan's transition team and is CEO of Sage Policy Group, Inc, where Elizabeth Martin, a student at Carnegie Mellon University, is an intern.

Hord Coplan Macht designs for Jair Lynch next to Nationals in DC

Chris Harvey has shown with the Fitzgerald and the Union Wharf in Baltimore that he can design. 

He and Hord Coplan Macht architects lost the chances to design another big residential structure at 100 Light Street when new owners changed the architect and another chance to design for Bozzutto again when the Anthem House that Scott Plank does with Bozzutto went to a DC area firm. 

Half Street Project (images HCM)

But now HCM can design even bigger and bolder in DC themselves for no one lesser than Jair Lynch, a man who develops boldly in emerging areas like this one along the Anacostia right next to the new Nationals Stadium.

Jair Lynch is considering two development strategies for Half Street. One provides for 401,600 square feet of residential and 60,100 square feet of retail, while a second provides for 326,500 square feet of residential, 75,100 square feet of hotel and 60,100 square feet of retail.
In either scenario, 7,900 square feet of residential along N Street could be reprogrammed for retail if market conditions call for it.
The proposed building design from Hord Coplan Macht is described as a modern concept, with a range of materials “applied in ways to differentiate the uses, and reinforce the mixed-use character of the Half Street gateway and surrounding neighborhood.” The building features two stories of retail, with projecting glass bays along Half Street. (Washington Business Journal).

Per a list in last week's BBJ, HCM is Baltimore's sexing largest architecture firm based on local billing. 

Baltimore Architecture goes to Washington! The only other thing we need now is for Jair to invest in Baltimore.

Jair Lynch

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

Washington Business Journal

What's up With the Inner Harbor?

Everything has a post riot lense right now, and looking from that perspective the problems of Baltimore's crown jewel come in even stronger focus:

Declining business because finicky tourists are afraid to set foot into a town in the news every day for riots and violence. (The slogan "come to Baltimore, it's a riot" just doesn't cut it). 

The McKeldin Fountain: Slated for demolition.

Of course, business declined before, in the pavilions and in the area around it. Retail opens and closes. Events come and go (recall the race cars?) and some have been mooching off other areas that need activity even more (think Book Festival). That tour enterprises like the red double decker buses or the Duck amphibians couldn't make it should tell us something.  Meanwhile what seems to make it gets cheesier, think "Believe it or not". 

Of course, the problem has been recognized and the Downtown Partnership had launched Harbor 2.0 for a good reason. It just seems that the general direction has been away from what is really needed: to make the Inner Harbor the commons of Baltimore. Or Baltore's Central Park as David Benn likes to say. 

Cheesy stuff is proliferating

What does that mean? Make the area a space that is nurtured, supported and used by the surrounding communities. Put activities there that are vital to residents such as the beech volleyball on Rash Field. Improve pedestrian access so folks from Otterbein, Federal Hill and downtown can leisurely stroll over to read a book, watch people or play with the kids. Have local restaurants there, beer gardens, a fish market and great ice cream. Get rid of those trinket stands, the rowdy beer barges, the anywhere USA chain restaurants and the stuff that is so not Baltimore.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
photos: ArchPlan

Perpetual Halloween at the Inner Harbor?

BBJ Article about Natures Cafe closing at Pratt and Light Streets