For about half a century, the stocky brick building that stands on the border of Remington and Charles Village languished as tenants and owners came and went. Redevelopment efforts stalled, leaving pigeons, graffiti, vandals and the elements to steadily wear on this one-time tin can manufacturing plant.
But for the past several months, neighbors have watched as workers in hard hats cleared decades worth of trash from the 80,000-square-foot building, which was built in 1874. Workers have installed new plumbing and are working on renovations that will maintain the building's status as a historic structure.
The builders are following the vision of developers Donald Manekin and his son, Thibault, who describe the work as an example of the kinds of "socially conscious" real estate projects they hope to continue to do in Baltimore through their Seawall Development Corp.
Their plan is to take advantage of the building's multiple floors, high ceilings and exposed brick walls and convert about a third of the structure into affordable, environmentally friendly office spaces for small nonprofits - of which Baltimore has plenty. The rest of the building will be devoted to satisfying another steady market: affordable rental housing for teachers.
"It was terrible until [they] came and took it over and said they were going to make it [apartments] for teachers," said Stephanie Forsythe, who has lived a few doors from the building for seven years. She complained about people using drugs in the building in the past and about trying to keep the alley behind it from clogging with trash.
Of the plan for the building now, "everybody likes it," Forsythe said. "Now they look up to the building. It's getting fixed. ... It's a good thing for the neighborhood."
The redevelopment of the H.F. Miller and Son Tin Can Manufacturing Plant, in the 2600 block of N. Howard St., is expected to cost about $20 million. The new place will be called Miller's Court. The project is benefiting from an increasingly popular development tool known as the New Markets Tax Credit, which city developers have tapped in the past to revitalize such sites as Belvedere Square and the Hippodrome Theatre.
The planned redevelopment of the American Brewery building and the construction of a large biotechnology research park, both in East Baltimore, are also benefiting from the tax break, which consists of a 39 percent tax credit over seven years. Since it was approved by Congress in 2000, the credit has been used by developers in Baltimore and across the country to defray the financial risk of building projects in communities facing economic distress.
