Pemco PUD legislation to be introduced Monday

Proposed development plans for the former Pemco International site on Eastern Avenue.

Legislation making it possible for a proposed mixed-use project on a contaminated 20-acre industrial site on Eastern Avenue to be built will be introduced to the Baltimore City Council on Monday.

Councilman James Kraft, who represents that area, said there has been sufficient community engagement between the developer, MCB Real Estate LLC, and the community to submit the legislation. The bill creates a 2 million square-foot planned unit development on the former Pemco International Corp. site.

“We’ve had a lot of input not just from community association but also the people in the neighborhoods about the bill. So we have a bill that I think at this point reflects the needs and desires of the people who live in the greater Greektown neighborhood,” Kraft said.

The minimum development program at the site include an 85,000-square-foot anchor tenant, possibly a supermarket; 168,000 square feet of total retail space; 244 apartments; and a hotel with up to about 200 rooms on the site. Kraft expressed concern that including a supermarket could saturate that market, but said the developers will make that call based on what their research tells them is viable. The project is expected to require a minimum $50 million investment.

“I’ve said to them, ‘I’m not certain that a grocery store is going to want to come there. You have the ability to use that for various types of retail— you’re not limited to a [grocery] use — there’s a lot of square footage in the PUD,’“ Kraft said.

Al Barry, of AB Associates, the land-use consultant for the developer, says the plan is also expected to receive a hearing from the Planning Commission on April 9. He added that the proposed PUD has support from organizations such as Greater Greektown Neighborhood Alliance, the Greektown Community Development Corp. and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

“We’re pleased that everything has come together and the bill will be introduced and Councilman Kraft has promised a swift council process,” Barry said.

The property, which sold for $3 million last April, according to tax records, has been vacant since Pemco International Corp. shut down its porcelain manufacturing facility at the site in 2007. The company’s use of the site — it was originally known as the Porcelain Enamel Manufacturing Corp. — dates back to 1911, according to Baltimore Heritage. Products built at the site include the orange tile roofs for Howard Johnson hotels and restaurants, and the company caused a stir in the 1920s when it unveiled a line of stoves made in various colors.

As a result of the site’s industrial use there are some environmental concerns. According to the Maryland Department of the Environment, Pemco had applied and was accepted into the Voluntary Cleanup Program, which gives the state oversight of the cleanup, in 2007. An assessment of the property showed there were volatile organic compounds in the soil and water as well as metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (leftovers from burning substances like coal, oil and gas) in the soil. The company submitted a cleanup plan but withdrew it before the state approved it.

In September, MCB Real Estate LLC, operating as 5601 Eastern Avenue LLC, applied to enter the Voluntary Cleanup Program with a proposed mixed-use development for the site. Because of the residential component included in the project, the developer will have to address the more stringent cleanup requirements associated with residential uses.

“They are now conducting additional sampling. MDE and EPA will evaluate that data when it is submitted. The next step would be for the applicant to propose a Response Action Plan. That would be the subject of a public meeting and would require MDE review and approval,” Jay Apperson, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment, wrote in an email.