Waterfront Coalition

A developer wants to build a seven-story condominium building on Canton's waterfront, atop one of the last remaining open spaces along Baltimore's crowded Gold Coast. Savannah Development is proposing 74 high-end condominiums for a 2.5-acre portion of the city-owned Canton Waterfront Park, an area that's now used for parking. The development would come to the edge of the more traditional park space, land that's home to the state's Korean War Memorial. The plan, even in its preliminary stages, appears to be in for a rough ride.

Proposals to upgrade Boston Street from Fells Point to Canton, including one to widen the bumpy four-lane thoroughfare to six lanes, have sparked conflict among Southeast Baltimore community groups.Fells Point residents and business owners worry that traffic from a widened Boston Street will bottleneck at the entrance to their historic neighborhood.A Canton watchdog group worries that a wider street may be a waste of money when mass transit alternatives have not been explored.And newcomers to the Canton area, who purchased expensive waterfront homes, believe widening Boston Street, from Chester to Conkling streets, is long overdue.

A development of offices, shops and townhomes on Canton's last big piece of available waterfront has cleared just about every hurdle and is expected to break ground in the spring. That puts the North Shore project's developer in the same camp as a handful of others who have recently announced residential and commercial buildings around the harbor - they have everything but tenants. The developers, many of whom have not broken ground, say demand remains strong and they believe that there are enough homebuyers and company executives willing to make hefty investments - even in an expected economic dip. On the Canton project at 2301 Boston St., Timonium-based Cignal Corp.

A DEVELOPMENT group headed by local businessman John Paterakis Sr. has revised the design of a 32-story hotel it proposed for Baltimore's Inner Harbor East renewal area, as part of a continuing effort to win funding approval from the city.The latest design shows a tower less bulky than in the original version and would give all 750 guest rooms views of the harbor. The hotel's main entrance would be on the south side of the building, rather than the north, and the base would contain room for up to three major restaurants or other public attractions.

Although many Baltimore neighborhoods claim diversity, it's hard to imagine another area where differences are as visible as in Canton. In the past 20 years, Canton has gone from being a working-class neighborhood, driven by local canneries, Bethlehem Steel and a railroad, to a neighborhood whose waterfront is largely inhabited by well-heeled yuppies.This sudden change has sparked some tension.Critics charge that the newcomers are not committed to the city -- and certainly not to the public schools.

One of the industrial workhorses of Baltimore's waterfront will soon get a new life as a focal point of the burgeoning Harbor East community. The E. J. Codd Co. building at 700 S. Caroline St., longtime home of a company that makes boilers and machinery, was sold recently to a group that plans to turn it into Baltimore's newest office and retail center. Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, known for its conversions of such historic structures as the former Bagby Furniture Co. building on Exeter Street and the American Can Co. complex on Boston Street, intends to invest $10 million to rehabilitate the original Codd building, which dates from 1881, and two additions completed in the early 1900s.

A LOCAL developer is proceeding with construction of an 80-unit apartment complex in Baltimore's Canton neighborhood, even though three neighborhood residents are pursuing legal avenues to prevent the project from being completed.A development team headed by Dr. Selvin Passen has begun erecting a steel frame to support the Lighthouse Landing apartments, designed to rise above a boat storage facility at 2701 Boston St.Baltimore's housing department issued a construction permit for the project March 2, but the action drew a legal challenge from three Canton residents who contend it's not safe to build residences over a structure where boats are stored.

The City Council put to rest yesterday a dispute over the popular Bohager's site between Fells Point and the Inner Harbor with a vote that clears the way for the site to be used for a 13-story, 306-unit apartment building and a 10-story condominium structure. The council voted 13-3 to approve an urban renewal ordinance that incorporates six blocks, including the Bohager's tract, into the Inner Harbor East land-use plan, allowing buildings up to 120 feet high. A competing bill would have placed the property in the Fells Point land-use plan, which has substantially tougher height restrictions.

Perhaps the most prominent piece of undeveloped real estate on Baltimore's harbor may soon be home to a soaring 27-story skyscraper rivaling the nearby Marriott Waterfront hotel. The city Planning Commission acted yesterday to raise to 350 feet from 205 feet the height limitation for the Harbor Point development proposed for a picturesque 27-acre peninsula jutting out of Fells Point. The 1.8 million-square-foot development is expected to include a major hotel and several commercial office buildings.

Baltimore developer and banker Edwin F. Hale Sr. is seeking to vastly expand his plans for a gentrified piece of Canton's waterfront with the proposed addition of hundreds of upscale condominiums at his Canton Crossing development. Hale, chairman of First Mariner Bank and owner of the Baltimore Blast soccer team, said yesterday that growing demand for waterfront homes prompted the latest proposed change to the $100 million development planned for Boston and Clinton streets. Hale wants to boost the number of condos from 100 to 504, building three towers in the southeast corner of the property, and to double the space for restaurants to 120,000 square feet, putting the project's cost closer to $500 million.