Baltimore seeking development consultants for Lexington Market overhaul

The Baltimore Public Market Corp. is seeking consultants to help prepare to fill Lexington Market-area retail space as well as monitor and oversee work involved with the proposed overhaul of the historic public market.

The corporation, which operates the city’s public markets, issued the requests for proposals Tuesday. Kirby Fowler, board chairman for both the Baltimore Public Markets Corp. and Lexington Market Inc., said they are seeking to contract with a firm that can perform a variety of tasks ranging, from brokerage to overseeing work of the project’s architecture team, engineers and construction manager.

“I think the larger portion is helping us develop the new Lexington Market project as well as the properties of the west side of Paca Street,” Fowler said.

The deadline for responses is May 16. There will also be two pre-development conferences held April 10.

In December, the city unveiled plans to demolish the current market building. The city also released renderings of a potential new market, by Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, showing a glass building with the existing building turned into a park. That followed a long-gestating report commissioned by the city that provided a handful of options to restore luster to the market that dates back to 1782.

Current estimates to redevelop Lexington Market are at about $40 million. Fowler said that, so far, there’s about $17 million committed to the project, and other funding sources are being sought.

“If all goes well in terms of fundraising, we believe we could break ground in the first quarter of 2018,” Fowler said.

Baltimore in recent years has sought to breathe new life into downtown’s Westside. Those efforts have involved a range of different initiatives including rebranding a large portion of the area as the Bromo Tower Arts & Entertainment District, after the iconic clock tower on Eutaw Street.

The city has also partnered with the nearby University of Maryland, Baltimore to create the UniverCity Partnership with the aim of making the area more vibrant. Baltimore has been aggressive in recent years in turning over vacant, dilapidated city properties to developers in hopes of sparking a revitalization of the area.

Downtown’s Westside, once the city’s major retail hub, has suffered a steady decline as the department stores that were once the area’s calling cards left the city and followed their customers to the suburbs. But as other portions of downtown continue to thrive, a there has been increased efforts to boost investment in areas west of Charles Street.