It's just three storefronts now, just half a block with a jewelry/pawn shop, a carryout and a barber shop.
But to city officials, this half a block in the 400 block of W. Baltimore St. is a critical piece for revitalization, a bridge between the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus to the west and the Hippodrome Theatre and Starbucks to the east.
And so the city is pressing the university to put a planned student bookstore, to be managed by Barnes & Noble, at the northeast corner of Baltimore and Paca streets, a move officials hope will inject more energy and visibility to an area undergoing a slow transformation.
Mayor Sheila Dixon has weighed in, calling UMB President David J. Ramsay. And Baltimore Development Corp. officials, along with various downtown revitalization groups, have met with and lobbied university officials.
"It would be good for the university and its image and good for the west side and good for the community," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the BDC. "It would be very lively, visible, and give the store a broader customer base."
University officials had planned to open the bookstore in a new campus center currently under construction in the 600 block of W. Lombard St., said James Hill, vice president for administration and finance.
Putting the bookstore in a building owned by the university would obviously be less costly, Hill said. "It's just a matter of economics," he added.
Still, Hill said, university officials have been in negotiations and discussions with city officials and the developers - A&R Development Corp. of Baltimore and David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd. - to see if they can find an economically viable solution for the university.
Brodie said the city is looking at offering the university financial incentives, such as low-interest loans, to make the deal more economically viable.
"We're waiting to hear back," Brodie said. "You're hardly going to know the store is there if it's in the student center."
Hill said the university was "very close to making a decision" and will likely discuss it this week.
"That block is important to both the city and the university," said Hill. "That's the link between the university and Centerpoint [apartments] and downtown. It's not the best of blocks on either side of the street, and it's felt that the bookstore presence there would just about complete the whole north side of West Baltimore Street and that block."
