Hoping to enliven midtown Baltimore with new residences and shops while providing much needed parking for the University of Baltimore, the university and a private developer are proposing a $75 million luxury apartment project at West Mount Royal Avenue and West Oliver Street.
The Fitzgerald would have approximately 280 market-rate units and 14,000 square feet of street-level retail and wrap around an 1,100-space garage that could be used by students, faculty and the public, said Toby Bozzuto, executive vice president of Bozzuto Development Co.
The project in the Midtown-Belvedere neighborhood would be the first step in a larger vision to enhance the area around the university through redevelopment, Peter Toran, vice president of planning and university relations, said yesterday. Leasing what is now a parking lot would also generate revenue for UB, he said.
"We are really looking for projects to create a college-town corridor that connects the train station with Bolton Hill, and connects Charles Street to the Station North Arts District," Toran said. "We are looking to bring economic vitality to the middle of Baltimore, and when you add residences and retail and controlled urban density, we have the ability to transform this area."
The university is seeking approval from the chancellor of the University System of Maryland to lease the 4.23-acre property, now used as a surface parking lot, to Bozzuto, which would develop and own the five- to seven-story project. The project also is subject to approval by the state Board of Public Works, Toran said.
The developer is scheduled to present preliminary plans to a city design panel tomorrow.
The university chose Bozzuto, in partnership with PMI Parking, two years ago through a competitive bidding process and has been negotiating the land lease. If approved by the university system's chancellor, the project could go before the Board of Public Works next month, Toran said.
Bozzuto, whose company developed Spinnaker Bay apartments at Harbor East, said he views the project's location between UB and Maryland Institute College of Art, with a combined enrollment of 8,000 to 9,000, as ideal. It's also just blocks from Penn Station and next to light rail.
"It's a true transit-oriented development," he said. "It's a massive investment in this neighborhood."
At a time when the for-sale housing market has been sluggish, apartment rentals are strong, he said. He hopes to break ground on the Fitzgerald next spring and complete the project in two years.
