FIVE MONTHS before Kurt L. Schmoke left the mayor's office in Baltimore, his housing commissioner suggested creating upscale residences inside one of Baltimore's best known landmarks, the historic Bromo Seltzer Tower at 15 S. Eutaw St.
Now it's up to Mayor Martin O'Malley and acting housing commissioner M. J. "Jay" Brodie to decide whether the project moves ahead and, if so, who will carry it out.
In response to a request for proposals issued when Schmoke was mayor, Baltimore's housing department has received proposals from two groups that want to build residences inside the shell of the 1911 tower, which rises 300 feet and was designed as a replica of the Palazzo Vecchio in Italy.
Both groups envision creating apartments featuring upscale amenities, panoramic views of the city and some of the highest rents in town. The deadline for bids was Nov. 26, less than two weeks before Schmoke left office.
John Milton Wesley, a spokesman for the housing department, said agency staffers are reviewing the proposals and will forward their recommendations to Brodie.
"We were very pleased to get the bids for the property," Wesley said. "It's an exciting idea to turn the tower into a residential facility. It will be one of the most unique living environments in the city, whichever proposal is selected."
The proposals came from:
Pennrose Properties of Philadelphia, with Cho, Wilks & Benn of Baltimore as the architect and Southway Builders as the contractor.
Pennrose proposed eight one-level (850-square-foot) apartments renting for $935 a month, and three two-story (1,650-square-foot) apartments renting for $1,650 a month.
Each of the smaller units would have an eat-in kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom and bathroom. The larger apartments would have an eat-in kitchen, "great room," and a powder room on the lower level, and one or two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second level. The two-level apartments would be on the tower's upper levels.
The development cost would be $2.4 million, and development would take 13 1/2 months. Pennrose offered to acquire the tower for $280,500 -- about the price of a new townhouse at HarborView.
Bromo Development Group, a Baltimore-based team headed by Perry Savoy and Thomas and Maria Rafailides, with David Shull of Shull Architects as the designer. The group proposed seven two-story "loft-type" apartments, one atop another, with rent of $1,530 a month.
Each 1,800-square-foot apartment would have a luxury bathroom and kitchen, a new heating system and a flexible floor plan with a two-story living space. Hamel Commercial of Elkridge would be the contractor, and Mahan Rykiel would be the landscape architect. The cost would be $1.9 million, and development would take 64 weeks.
No acquisition offer was made for the property.
In seeking proposals, city officials said they did not want to consider plans that called for changes to the tower's exterior, but both groups indicated that they would like to alter it to some degree.
Pennrose's drawings showed that the team would create a slender, $35,000 fire escape on the north side of the tower.
The Bromo Development Group proposed an "alternate" floor plan that called for curving glass sun rooms to be added to the lower half of the tower, on the north and east facades, to add about 400 square feet to each apartment. The developers noted that these sides originally were joined to a factory building that no longer exists and are clad in stucco.
"These stuccoed facades aren't very attractive, and by adding new sun rooms to the exterior we can enlarge the floor plan and give even more of a unique character to the `less desirable' lower-floor apartments," they stated.
"We realize that the offering does not encourage modifications to the exterior. However, if this becomes allowable, we feel it would greatly benefit the development and offer [an] evolution to the building reflecting the new use."
Wesley said it was his understanding that the city cannot sell the tower outright because it was donated with the understanding that the city would maintain its architectural integrity. But he said the city has the legal authority to lease the tower for redevelopment by a private group, as it has done with the Pier 4 Power Plant.
Wesley said he did not know when the housing department would decide which team might be awarded rights to develop the tower.
