A short while ago I decided to do some investigating into a rather large, abandoned and borderline blighty building at the end of Heath Street. One which if ever were converted into something useful that the community could truly enjoy, say a parking garage with some decent retail, I would give a big thumbs up to and smile widely. And boy howdy, what a story this building (and its adjacent building) has.
Here’s where the “interesting story” comes into play – 111 W. Heath St. was at some point a cardboard box factory, established some time in the early 20th. And of course, as a result of this history the property was put through the system upon purchase by the current owner to be deemed a Historic Site, enjoying some nice fat property tax breaks provided the “original character” of the building (note Silo Point’s “preservation” to enjoy the same status) is preserved, regardless of its use.
The adjacent property, 115 W. Heath (the door pictured is on Barney), was also purchased by the same individual several years ago at a bargain basement price. The reasoning? It may have something to do with the fact that there’s a sign above the door that states “ATTENTION CYANIDES IN BASEMENT.” Oh yeah, that and the fact that the previous owner, Edward Birtic, was charged with improperly dumping and hiring children to dispose of hazardous chemicals for him.
But time makes everyone forget everything, and now the the set of buildings has a new owner. The plan for this rather large facility? One guess, and it doesn’t count. Have you guessed it yet? That’s right! Condos! GLORIOUS CONDOS sorry LOFTS!! On Heath Street! Super classy Heath Street! Observe this artist’s rendition of what THE LOFTS will look like, as rendered by 1996 3D graphics:
Oooooh, aaaahh, gorgeous. It’s like living in space!
Having followed the paper trail, this property has been approved for 18 efficiency units and 34 dwelling units. … and guess how many parking spots? 52!! Makes perfect sense considering most of the dwelling units will more than likely house more than one person, with more than one car per unit. And considering how taxed the area is currently for parking as of right now, this is a perfectly inadequate solution. BUT WAIT! There’s this weird thing called “a recession” going on, and the building hasn’t been developed – in fact, as of extremely recently the whole project is for sale as an unfinished (but approved) apartment building. So, if you’ve got a few mil floating around, I would strongly suggest you call the number on the picture RIGHT NOW!
Hmmm,
Does anyone know who the broker is? Time on Market?
I’d be interested to know how the residential condo market is doing in Baltimore. In 2004, property was being developed / advertised all over Baltimore County and the Harbor area. If most of that space was built, I wonder how much excess capacity the market has now?
It’s a good question. Undoubtedly the market was supersaturated in 2004 when luxury everything was being built – even now it would seem that condos and apartments are still being built (not this particular property of course), but I sure as hell don’t see too many people living in them.
No word about the so-called migration from DC? That sounded far-fetched without a mag-lev and Baltimore’s own metro system. (What do you mean you DON’T want to go to Owings Mills?!?)
Yeah, all part of the big speculation of the mid oughts I suppose. Although, at the time it was quite a reality that out of town investors and speculators were moving into Bmore en masse due to its relative cheapness. Whether that holds true now is probably less likely.