Bricklayers 1 joins Bathhouse Square as equity investors

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Bricklayers Local 1 MD, VA & DC is partnering with SAA|EVI Development in the redevelopment of a former bathhouse and fire station in Baltimore’s Pigtown neighborhood.

The Bricklayers local joins SAA|EVI as equity investors in the $2 million project. The Reinvestment Fund is contributing debt toward transforming the former fire station and Walter’s Bathhouse No. 2. Plans for the project, being called Bathhouse Square, call for turning the buildings into a Milk & Honey coffee shop and eight apartments.

“Our approach is not based on handouts but focused rather on creating opportunity through investment,” Ernst Valery, managing member of SAA | EVI Development, said. “Handouts don’t work, investments work.”

SAA|EVI Development and the Bricklayers intend to create a larger capital pool for additional investments in west Baltimore. SAA | EVI Development recently celebrated the opening of the Nelson Kohl Apartments in Station North and is planning a project in west Baltimore called Station West centered around the West Baltimore MARC Station.

The project will also serve as a pilot site for building a pipeline of apprenticeships and job training for local youth who want to train for jobs in the construction industry.

The job training program is being formed in partnership with the Bathhouse Square general contractor Commercial Construction, the Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training, and SAA|EVI Development. Bricklayers Local 1 eventually plans to open a training facility in Baltimore similar to its facility in Bowie.

The developer purchased the property from the Baltimore Development Corp. roughly two years ago. It’s hoped the renovated buildings will be delivered by this time next year, Valery said.