The North Avenue Market has a group of new owners, after the market was acquired by a consortium of partners including a variety of stakeholders in the Station North Arts District area of Baltimore City.
The group of partners include community-based non-profit organizations, developers, and artists under the banner of North Avenue Market Development, LLC.
The historic building was sold for $3.25 million and includes the transfer of a liquor license from longtime owners Mike Shecter and Carolyn Frenkil.
Funding for the purchase came from several sources, including the capital funds from the General Assembly, the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund (NIIF), the sellers, capital grants from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), and Johns Hopkins University. Renovating the building is expected to cost $30 million. The new owners received $4.78 million in Maryland Revitalization Historic Tax Credits in 2023.
The historic building has 57,000 square feet, and a 40,000 square foot basement. Plans for the renovated building include spaces for tenants intended to invigorate Station North.
“One of the unique aspects of this acquisition is the collaboration of the purchasers and sellers with new interim tenants who are activating the iconic building as the redevelopment takes shape,” reads the press release. These tenants include Mobtown Ballroom & Café, having relocated from Pigtown; The Club Car Baltimore, a queer performance venue and cocktail bar; Baltimore Youth Arts, a nonprofit youth arts organization; and Currency Studio, a clothing and lifestyle goods retailer.
“Our aim is to foster an environment conducive to artistic experimentation, creativity, and serendipitous encounters—the very essence of innovation and collaboration,” said Ellen Janes, executive director of Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP).
CBP coordinated the collaboration between the purchasers and the interim tenants. CBP is the parent organization of the Central Baltimore Future Fund (CBFF), and Janes emphasized the group’s vision for prioritizing a development plan that embraces and celebrates Station North’s identity as a “thriving arts and entertainment destination.”
CBFF collaborated with Twenty-Two Lanes and Ballard Spahr, who provided pro bono legal services to help shepherd the acquisition through.
“In Baltimore City, redevelopment projects such as North Avenue Market are very challenging. It will take time and support from both the public and private sector for us to secure the necessary financing and leasing commitments,” said John Renner, Manager of Twenty-Two Lanes. “In the meantime, we are investing significant time, energy and money into activating the building as it allows us to test concepts that could be part of the future development.”
According to the Baltimore Museum of Industry, the North Avenue Market was built on the site of Confederate General Bradley T. Johnson’s former residence. It was billed as “Baltimore’s largest enclosed sanitary market” when it opened in 1928 with twelve retail shops and a 22-lane bowling alley. It eventually grew to have more than 200 grocery vendors. The Great Depression and the end of World War II took their tolls on the market’s customer base, and a six-alarm fire in 1968 struck the final financial blow.
Lauren Kelly-Washington, a community leader in Greenmount West, expressed enthusiasm and confidence in the future of the North Avenue Market as a hub for cultural expression and business ventures alike.
“The innovative and community-minded legacy Center City Inc. leaves, and the current and future success of the Market is and will be that much stronger and vibrant because of what they created, thereby investing in new businesses and ventures and startups staying true to the authentic culture of the Arts District,” Kelly-Washington said.
Some photos, besides 2 people dancing, would have helped this article. Many people have not been there and would probably like to find out more.