Developers finished nearly $550 million in downtown Baltimore construction projects in the first four months of the year - more than twice the value of developments completed in all of 2007.
That's according to the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, which detailed a continuing boom in activity in its newest "State of Downtown" report being released today. About $2.7 billion in construction is under way now, despite the housing slump, credit crunch and economic slowdown, the group said.
"Downtown Baltimore is in a good position to weather the national storm," said Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership, which runs programs and acts as an advocate for the area.
The group defines downtown as a mile in all directions from the intersection of Pratt and Light streets. That encompasses part of Mount Vernon to the north, Federal Hill to the south, fast-growing Harbor East and the west side.
Economic woes - including difficulty getting financing - have not left the area unscathed.
Many of the projects completed this year were started before the housing boom turned to slump. Last month, The Sun found that more than $1 billion in planned Baltimore developments had stalled, most of it projects slated for downtown.
Not all proposals that made sense in the housing-boom days still do, said Daraius Irani, director of applied economics at Towson University's RESI consulting arm. But it could be worse than plans sitting on the shelf.
"The last thing you'd want is half-finished condominiums or office developments that have been peppering other places, such as Miami," said Irani, who was not involved in the State of Downtown report. "While we're not entirely immune from the real estate downturn, we have some positives."
Developers completed almost $250 million in construction, renovations and conversions last year in downtown Baltimore. That's down from $394 million in 2006, the Downtown Partnership said. But the value of developments finished in January through April tops each of those years.
A single development accounted for a big piece of the work: the $232 million mixed-use project that fills a square block in Harbor East, developed by H&S Properties Development Corp. with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse as construction manager. The project has a Homewood Suites hotel, a Hilton Garden Inn, 175 condos and businesses ranging from a seven-screen theater to a Starbucks.
