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Business and Civic Group Unveils Development Program to Revitalize Famed Charles Street Cooridor; Includes $430 Million in Current and Planned Projects.
11/19/01

BALTIMORE, Md. – Charles Street – one of Baltimore’s most prestigious avenues and historically the site of numerous upscale shops, offices and cultural offerings – is undergoing a planned return to its former major place in the city’s retail, business and cultural life.
The impetus is $430 million in projects either recently completed or already on the drawing board and an active development marketing program launched to attract other new tenants, developers and investors over the next five years. During the past 12 months, more than 20 businesses, primarily retail and restaurants, opened or committed to opening on Charles Street.

Both the existing developments taking place and the plans to create even more public and private investment along the downtown core of Charles Street, from Pratt Street to North Avenue, were unveiled today by Charles Street Development Corporation (CSDC), the private not·for·profit group formed last year to bring about the revitalization of the famed corridor through a unified cooperative effort.

CSDC is comprised of a board of 33 key business and community leaders chaired by Henry G. Hagan, CEO of Monumental Life Insurance Co.

Rebecca Gagalis, the executive director, is a nationally recognized city development executive who has been working to organize this effort for the past year.

Financing for CSDC comes from its own members, plus a one·time grant of $50,000 from the State and $25,000 from the City, which has committed to another $25,000 next year. Plans are underway to seek other governmental and private funding.

"Our mission is to enhance and increase retail use along the Charles Street corridor while we also recreate the environment that made this an avenue featuring the best in city life," said Mr. Hagan. "We are excited by the trends that are emerging both in terms of new businesses being established and major development activity planned or underway. What is truly gratifying is the involvement we are receiving from Mayor O’Malley and other city officials and the broad·based support we are seeing from the business and general community."

Mr. Hagan noted that even today Charles Street is the site for a number of hotels and major office buildings, the Mt. Vernon cultural district that includes the Walters Art Museum and the Peabody Institute, the University of Baltimore campus and Penn Station.

The $430 million in projects now underway along Charles Street and nearby areas include $57 million being invested by the University of Baltimore, $215 million by the Walters and other cultural institutions, and $102 million in private development, including $7 million being invested by Southern Management Corporation in Charles Plaza. Artemis Properties, Inc., recently completed the almost $7 million development of The Johns Hopkins University School of Professional Studies in Business and Education – Downtown Center at Charles and Fayette Streets and is nearing completion of a $12 million refurbishing of the 22·story One Charles Center designed by famed architect Mies van der Rohe.

Charles Street, similar to other downtown portions of various cities, has had to face the flight of businesses and people to the suburbs in recent decades. As a result, Charles Street has experienced a first floor vacancy rate that presently stands at 21 percent and has to contend with a lack of ample parking for commuting shoppers and employees.

These problems, however, are balanced by Charles Street’s low property costs and rents, picturesque environment, the continuing presence of many of Baltimore’s most established business and cultural offerings, and the infusion of a significant amount of either recent or planned investment, much of it spurred by CSDC.

In its first year of operation, CSDC has initiated a number of activities, including creating a marketing package targeted at investment and development audiences. The package features land use maps, incentives available for those locating to Charles Street and a monthly list of available properties. This material is constantly being distributed at presentations, meetings, seminars and through mailings to hundreds of potential developers, tenants and investors.

Other initiatives are being taken to ensure that Charles Street has redevelopment potential. These actions include the creation of a detailed streetscape plan for Charles Street from Madison Street to North Avenue that calls for new trees, planters, brick and concrete pavers, benches and increased lighting. This streetscape plan is a continuation of a streetscape effort that is already underway on Charles Street south of Madison Street in the downtown area. Other initiatives include a parking management study, work on expansion of a facade improvement program, a look at a shuttle system geared towards visitors and tourists, and application to include Charles Street from Saratoga Street to North Avenue within an Arts & Entertainment District. A website for Charles Street Development Corporation is now being developed that will highlight available properties and development incentives. The website will be operational by the end of the year.

"Every city has its major thoroughfare and Charles Street is the historic and actual spine of Baltimore, dividing the city into east and west," said Mr. Hagan. "What we are seeing is that Charles Street is bringing a lot of people, companies and institutions together. This can only be good for all of Baltimore as we work together to see Charles Street flourish once again."

For more information - Contact the Charles Street Development Corporation at 410-649-2000

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