Stadium Square is an approximately $250 million mixed-use project by master developer Caves Valley Partners (CVP). It will cover three consecutive blocks of South Baltimore in Sharp-Leadenhall and the South Baltimore Neighborhood located between Cross St. on the north, Race St. on the east, Leadenhall St. on the west, and both sides of Ostend St. to the south.
The Hanover Co. will be developing the first building at Stadium Square on the 1100 block of Race St. as part of Phase I (the northern most block of the development). The building will include 293 market-rate apartments, 14,000 sq. ft. of retail, and 450-500 parking spaces. Now, two more buildings are moving forward as CVP is planning another apartment building as well as an office building.
Hanover’s project will occupy most of the northern most block of Stadium Square from Cross St. to West St. and Race St. to Leadenhall St. CVP’s new apartment building will repurpose five existing historic rowhomes and two city lots at the corner of Cross and Leadenhall. CVP presented plans for this new building at last week’s the Urban Design & Architecture Review Panel (UDARP) meeting.
The facades of the five rowhomes will be kept and behind them a new four to five story, 21- to 28-unit apartment building with a 6,000 sq. ft. retail space will be constructed. The building will also cover the parking decks on Hanover’s project, which was a concern of UDARP panelists when the project was first presented.
“We were trying to figure out what to do there and we were originally considering an office building, but we knew it made sense to have retail at that corner to continue the flow from Cross St. into Solo Gibbs Park,” said Arsh Mirmiran of CVP. “The community wanted retail there as well.” To note, CVP, along with Scott Plank’s Warhorse Development, are in negotiations with the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation to redevelop the Cross Street Market. Mirmiran described that process as “getting closer.”
CVP is hoping to find the financing to make the apartments at the new building “affordable housing.” Construction will likely begin in quarter one or two of 2016 with an expected completion date around the second or third quarter of 2017, which is around the same time Hanover’s project is expected to be completed.
CVP is still figuring out parking for the new building. It will likely be fulfilled in the future by additional spaces in a garage on the next block south in Stadium Square, the middle block (or Phase III).
Phase II, the southern most block of Stadium Square, will also begin soon as CVP will be presenting plans to UDARP at one of their next two meetings, June 18th or July 2nd, for a new office building. The office building, which is currently in the design phase, will take the place of an existing brick building across from the U.S. Post Office on the 100 block of West Ostend St. Mirmiran described the condition of the building as “in such horrendous shape that it needs to be demolished,” as well as having 8 ft. ceilings that are less than ideal for offices. CVP will incorporate existing wood beams into the design of the new building.
CVP already has an anchor tenant signed to a 27,000 sq. ft. lease at this new office building. Mirmiran told SouthBMore.com that the company is relocating from the central business district of Downtown and that it was drawn to a neighborhood locations for many reasons. CVP is also in negotiations with two other companies for smaller leases in the building. The building will reuse an existing parking lot located south of the brick building that will be demolished.
Demolition is currently underway on the existing warehouses on the 1100 blocks of Race and Leadenhall St. to make way for Phase I as well as on the former Furst Bros. property, which will be part of Phase III. Phase III will be a mixed-use development with the largest retail component of any of the three phases.
A view of CVP’s Proposed Apartment Building at the corner of Cross St. and Leadenhall St.
Renderings of Hanover’s 293-unit apartment building
