SoWeBo and Cherry Hill Development Photo Tour

Here is a photo tour of all the construction projects in SoWeBo and one in Cherry Hill.

Store It All Self Storage – Pigtown 

Store It All Self Storage began construction in 2018 on a 108,000 sq. ft., approximately 800-unit storage facility at 1050 Paca St. in Pigtown. With this project, a 1906 brick warehouse has been converted into a climate-controlled facility and a new five-story structure adjacent to the building has been constructed.

Store It All is based in Rockville, MD and has several locations. This, however, will be the company’s first Baltimore location.

The project has new windows, new signage, and appears to be nearing completion.

Groundwork Kitchen – Pigtown 

Local nonprofit Paul’s Place began construction in October on Groundwork Kitchen, a $6.1-million, almost 15,000 sq. ft. culinary arts training center, restaurant, and carryout shop. The project replaces a surface parking lot at 925 Washington Blvd. at the intersection of W. Cross St. in Pigtown.

The two-and-a-half story building is designed to fit in with the existing historical architecture in Pigtown. It has red brick exterior, large warehouse-style windows that are a nod to the industrial buildings in the area, and metal accents. The building will be lined with new landscaping. The main entrance will front Washington Blvd. and will have a set of stairs and a handicap ramp.

The foundation is going up, the basement has been dug, and steel beams are starting to be installed.

1020 West Pratt Street – Hollins Market

Scott Plank’s War Horse Cities is redeveloping the former 46,710 sq. ft. former Montgomery Ward shirt factory at 1020 W. Pratt St into an office building. The three-story brick building dating back to 1925 was also the former home to Baltimore Envelope Factory.

Some demolition has taken place on the project.

War Horse is also working on Hollins Square Homes which is renovating rowhomes around the market and will soon add 15 new-construction townhomes.

First Mile Stable – Mount Clare

First Mile Stable, a $2.5-million, state-of-the-art home for the Baltimore Police Mounted Unit, is nearing completion. The Baltimore Police Unit is the oldest continuously-operated mounted unit in the United States and currently keeps its home on the 500 block of Holliday St. Downtown.

The new 13,000-sq. ft. equestrian facility sits on a 2.4-acre plot of B&O Railroad Museum property that is located in the grass area adjacent to train tracks that run west of the museum. The site is just north of Carroll Park and just south of the Traci Adkins Park and Mount Clare neighborhood.

First Mile Stable will include 12 stalls and associated support rooms, an exercise area, and a classroom/museum/community center, which the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) will use to interact with youth in the community. The B&O board members are excited about having BPD’s presence on the property to keep the area safe.

An outdoor paddock will be constructed around a site the B&O Railroad Museum calls “the ruins” which features old concrete columns. New fencing will also be installed around the perimeter of the B&O grass properties.

University of Maryland, Baltimore Community Engagement Center (CEC) -Hollins Market

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is under construction on its new 20,000 sq. ft. Community Engagement Center (CEC) in Hollins Market, which is part of its growing BioPark campus. The CEC is going into a four-story building at 16 S. Poppleton St. The building, which was first constructed in 1917, was formerly part of the St. Peter’s Church complex and was most recently used as a drug and alcohol residential treatment center.

UMB runs a 3,000 sq. ft. CEC at 870 W. Baltimore St. that it opened in 2015 and has since outgrown.

Demolition has been underway and new windows are going in. UMB is hoping to open the center this summer.

Center West Phase 1 – Poppleton

The CenterWest development in Poppleton opened its first new building in October. Avra, a five-story, 176-unit apartment building at 101 N. Schroder St., is now open and welcoming residents. The CenterWest development has been in planning for about 15 years and has been under construction on the first phase of development over the last few years.

The CenterWest development is a project by New York City’s La Cité Development. Its $800-million master plan includes 3.2 million sq. ft. of new construction and 1,800 new housing units. The new construction will take over mostly-vacant lots on N. Schroeder St. and N. Carrollton Ave. between W. Fairmount Ave. to the south and W. Mulberry St. to the north, which also borders Rt. 40 highway.

Phase One consists of two buildings, Avra, which is now open, and Ciro, which is mostly completed and is expected to get its final occupancy permit in the spring. Ciro is another five-story building with 86 apartments. Avra and Ciro combine for 262 apartments, 225 parking spaces between two parking garages and a surface parking lot, about 18,000 sq. ft. of retail, a dog park, and new public parks called Poe Park and Central Bark dog park.

CenterWest is already in the design and development phase of Phase Two which will bring another apartment building with an already-signed grocery store and additional retail on the first floor, as well as a hotel, to Schroeder St. with additional retail. La Cité hopes to break ground on both of these buildings next year.

Though not in SoWeBo, here’s a photo of a project in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of South Baltimore.

Office of Animal Control and nonprofit Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc. (BARCS) Facility – Cherry Hill 

Construction is nearing completion on a new $12 million-plus, 37,400 sq. ft. facility for the Office of Animal Control and nonprofit Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc. (BARCS) facility at 2490 Giles Rd. in Cherry Hill. Animal Control and BARCS are relocating from 301 Stockholm St. in Stadium Area, and will make the move into the new facility by the end of this month.

The new facility will have a large parking lot and wooded outdoor spaces for dog walking. The building design will have a gray facade with large windows at the entrance, a yellow accent wall, new landscaping, and a gated front yard with a black fence. The building was designed by Manns Woodward Studios, Inc.

The 301 Stockholm St. property will be replaced by Topgolf after it is vacated by the Office of Animal Control and BARCS.

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.