Old CVS No More
It’s never a great sign in real estate when a building is still named after a business that left more than 10 years ago. The “Old CVS,” located at the southeast corner of Fort Ave. and Patatpsco St., finally appears ready for redevelopment. If you’ve never seen the building, it is a massive wall of formstone that covers a large visible portion of Fort Ave. For years we’ve been hearing it would be converted to townhomes and several owners later it does appear that will finally happen. There is demolition notice on the building announcing a May 10th starting date. A plan has been approved for 10 townhomes with parking.
Since this development has stalled for so long, we were hoping it would be a potential location for a parking garage, but it does appear this development is back on track. But I am also hearing that potentially two garages could be available soon for monthly rental spots for residents in the neighborhood… great news!
Charm City Circulator Extension in the Works
It appears the future of the Charm City Circulator Purple Route will eventually run from Johns Hopkins University to Wells St. in South Baltimore. Currently the Purple Route extends up to Penn Station to the north and Ostend St. to the south, six blocks short of Wells Street. Mayor Rawlings-Blake pledged to take the Circulator to Johns Hopkins in her State of the City Address and there are many efforts to bring the route farther into SoBo.
I am hearing that bringing the route two more blocks south to Fort Ave. is basically a done deal and should start soon, but a strong effort is in place to bring it to Wells St. now as opposed to when the extension is made to Johns Hopkins University. Jon Mayers of Chesapeake Realty Partners, the developers of 1901 South Charles Street, has agreed to work with the South Baltimore Neighborhood Association in an effort to bring the Purple Route down to Wells St. Local business owners have also joined the pursuit, citing how important it is for their businesses in an area with such strict and difficult parking.
For those readers who haven’t been following, Wells St. in South Baltimore is about to take on a lot more foot traffic, with the potential for much more. The 193-unit 1901 South Charles Street apartment building is nearing completion, a new brewpub is in the works on the corner of Charles St. and several other properties are being eyed for redevelopment including a potential expansion of 101 Wells, a large apartment complex currently on Wells St. We will keep you posted on how to support this effort, which would be crucial for the South Baltimore neighborhood.
Under Armour Improves Warehouse Facade
While Under Armour’s Tide Point headquarters shows very well from the entrance and the waterfront, their expansion into a warehouse space did not have the greatest curb appeal on Nicholson St. across from Domino Sugar. This road has received some serious traffic while the Fort Ave. bridge has been under construction and it appears UA has made some nice improvements to the building. The warehouse has been painted black and gray and there is major landscaping work being done in front of the warehouse. It looks much better! UA should also be starting construction on their new retail store at Tide Point very soon.
Fort Ave. Bridge Completion Looks Promising
The Fort Ave. bridge replacement has been a major frustration for Locust Point businesses, restaurants and residents since last summer. With thousands of tourists heading to Fort McHenry this June for the Sailabration to celebrate the War of 1812, the pressure is certainly on to get it finished. When driving by today, it does appear that both sides of the street are currently connected and being supported by wood framing. So it definitely looks like they have made some serious progress and hopefully that means they will finish on time. I’m not an engineer, but it does give me some confidence that it actually looks like a bridge again for the first time in almost a year.
