IS WATERFRONT real estate so hot in Baltimore that people are willing to live and work in an old grain elevator?
Developer Patrick Turner and his partners are counting on it.
They plan to convert the former Baltimore & Ohio Grain Elevator, a Locust Point landmark, to luxury condominiums, offices and possibly a hotel by 2005. The conversion, called Silo Point, would be the anchor of a $200 million mixed-use community that also would include about 135 low-rise residences on 7.5 acres just west of Fort McHenry.
The project, which needs City Council approval before construction can begin, is the latest sign of the gentrification of Baltimore's once-industrial waterfront. It would follow conversions of the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. Key Highway shipyard to upscale housing and the old Procter & Gamble soapmaking plant to a business campus.
Turner, known for his "edgy" conversions of such buildings as the McHenry Theater and the Southway Bowling Center, thinks the idea will have strong appeal. "This is such a prominent building," he said. "When you mention the grain elevator, everybody knows where it is. And this is the largest privately owned parcel in South Baltimore, unless they're going to sell Fort McHenry some day."
Locust Point is already in demand, he added. "People like this area. It's nice and safe. It's almost like living on an island, because you're surrounded by water. And you have a great national landmark right outside your front door."
Founder of the Henrietta Corp., Turner heads a separate group that has a contract to purchase the 15-acre grain-storage property off the 1300 block of Andre Street in Locust Point from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) of Decatur, Ill., for $6.5 million.
The grain elevator dates from 1923 and ceased operating last year, after part of the state-owned pier that links it to Baltimore's waterfront fell into the harbor. Its previous owners acquired the surrounding land decades ago for construction of a second grain-storage facility, but they never moved ahead with construction.
Turner and five partners offered to purchase the property from ADM after learning that the grain operation had shut down, and they reached agreement with the company earlier this year. Their contract calls for the property to change hands in September.
The developers are seeking approval of City Council legislation that would change the zoning of the property - currently restricted to industrial uses - to allow commercial and residential construction as part of a "planned unit development."
