BDC tries again on Washington Blvd’s Pigtown

City hoping to find developer for dilapidated block

Posted: 7:01 pm Tue, August 24, 2010
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer

For years, the sign reading “Things are happening in Pigtown” has hung on the building that makes up much of the 900 block of Washington Boulevard. On Tuesday, Baltimore announced it is again seeking developers to bring the dilapidated property back to life.

The Baltimore Development Corp. reissued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of five Washington Boulevard properties in Pigtown, the area at the base of Interstate 395 and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. This is the BDC’s third attempt at finding a developer who will take on the project.

“The building is not in great shape,” said Daryl Landy, executive director of Pigtown Main Street. “It has been an eyesore for the neighborhood for quite some time.”

Tuesday’s request for proposals from the city’s quasi-public development arm reads much like the first two proposals, issued in 2006 and in 2009: The city is seeking a developer to rehabilitate the existing structures “to the largest extent possible” and asks that the proposal include “creative ways to open up the buildings to make larger commercial spaces on the first floors” in addition to residences in the upper floors.

The five properties, at 925, 927, 929, 931 and 937 Washington Blvd., are a former two-story tavern of approximately 1,660 square feet, a roughly 1,440-square-foot, two-story residential structure, and three adjoining lots totaling an estimated 4,525 square feet in three stories.

The city hopes to attract proposals for the properties that include a restaurant, coffee shop, small grocer, bookstore, bakery, family video store, pharmacy, upscale convenience store, florist, ice cream shop or art gallery.

The deadline to submit proposals is Nov. 16.

Landy said the community hopes new businesses there attract more than just nearby residents.

“I think that any sort of business that comes in needs to be a destination,” he said. “No matter what concept it is … it has to be something that will attract people outside of the neighborhood as well.”

Pigtown was designated a Baltimore Main Streets project in 2000. Four developers responded to the BDC’s original request for proposals in 2006, and the city’s selection — Historic Pigtown Development LLC — planned for a $1.6 million renovation of the buildings into a corner restaurant with offices and apartments on upper floors.

But the BDC said the developer dropped the project after the recession made financing difficult. A second RFP in 2009 received just one proposal, and the city chose not to move forward.

“Hopefully the third time will be the charm,” Landy said.

Donna Langley, the BDC’s Baltimore Main Streets program director, said that with the nearby 700 block of Washington Boulevard getting closer to development and the aggressive courting of businesses by Pigtown Main Street, the project is more attractive than it was last year.

“We feel they’re making a lot of process we hope a new developer can capitalize on,” she said.