Most new apartment buildings take months to lease up, even in the best of locations. But one new residential development in Baltimore is opening with 100 percent occupancy on Day One.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, developers of The Enolia apartments on Harford Road said the building is fully leased even before it opens.
In a city where some landlords struggle to find tenants, they said, they received more than 2000 applications for 473 spaces in 24 hours.
The Enolia is a five-story, $58 million, 151-unit apartment building that was developed by MCB Real Estate on a 3.3 acre parcel at 4529 Harford Road.
One of the main reasons it’s doing so well is that it will be occupied entirely by students at Morgan State University, less than a mile away at 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane.
The Enolia is the first new privately built off-campus housing development to serve Morgan State students in more than 20 years. It’s opening at a time when Morgan State is experiencing record enrollment and doesn’t have enough housing on campus to accommodate all of the students who want it. That shortage has led to strong demand for off campus housing for the semester that begins Aug. 25.
On Thursday, more than 100 people attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and toured the completed building. In addition to Wilson, dignitaries included U. S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, chair of the Board of Regents at Morgan State, and law professor and historian Larry Gibson.
At the event, Morgan State President David Wilson announced that the university expects to enroll 11,200 students for the fall semester – the first time it has surpassed the 11,000 figure. Students are coming from 45 states and about 70 countries.
Wilson said demand for housing at The Enolia was so strong that when the leasing portal opened earlier this year, the website crashed. “We…had 2,000 students who wanted those 500 beds,” he said. “The demand is absolutely off the charts.”
Reinventing the residence hall
But Morgan State’s record enrollment isn’t the only reason for the quick lease-up. With The Enolia, MCB and its design team essentially reinvented the residence hall for Morgan State students, providing features and amenities that other options don’t offer on-campus or off, and that clearly appealed to them. The Enolia may have an old-fashioned name, but its approach to student housing is anything but.
The design and attention to detail have been so well received that planners say they think The Enolia could be a model for other universities planning housing for upper-class students.
The building is named after trailblazing educator, civil rights activist and community leader Enolia Pettigen McMillan, (1904 to 2006). She was the first and only female president of the national board of the NAACP and the first and only female chair of Morgan State’s Board of Regents.
More firsts: McMillan was the first African American woman to be appointed to serve as the principal of a high school in Maryland, in 1928; one of the first two African American teachers to be appointed to all-white schools, in 1954, and the first African American woman to serve as an administrator at a former all-white school (Clifton Park Junior High) in 1956.
Also, she was the first and only woman elected president of the Maryland State Colored Teachers Association; the first woman to chair the trustee board at her church, Calvery Baptist Church, and the first woman elected president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP. And now, according to granddaughter Tiffany Mfume, she’s the first Enolia to have a building named after herself.
Master lease arrangement
Although MCB is the developer and owner, Morgan State is leasing the entire building and then assigning the bedrooms to students through its Residence Life and Housing program.
The master lease arrangement grew out of the planning process, according to Amy Bonitz, MCB’s Managing Director of Community Development and the project executive who led its development team for The Enolia.
When MCB began planning The Enolia, Bonitz said, principals knew that Morgan State students would be potential tenants, and MCB intended to lease the apartments directly to students.
As the project evolved, she said, MCB negotiated the master lease arrangement with Morgan State. The lease period is five years, with two renewal options. Greystar, the nation’s second largest developer of multifamily housing, was brought in early on as an advisor to the development team and will manage the building.
‘You had me at single room’
The Enolia is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. A dozen Resident Assistants will live on the premises.
Of the 151 units, 65 percent are four-bedroom suites, and 35 percent are either one- or two-bedroom units. The apartments come partially furnished, with a bed and a desk for every resident. Each unit contains a kitchen, living room, closet, washer and dryer, and there is a private bathroom for every bed. That means a four-person suite has four bedrooms and four bathrooms, so no student has to share a sink or shower.
The high number of private bathrooms has caught the attention of commenters on social media. “You had me at single room with own bath,” one said.
Filled with amenities
The Enolia is also filled with student-oriented amenities. Much of the ground floor is devoted to shared spaces, including a dining area with booth seating, fitness center, yoga studio, computer lab, game room and a variety of lounges. These areas give students options to meet outside their apartments, effectively expanding their living space.
The architects originally proposed a building with an outdoor courtyard surrounded by walls on four sides, like a hole in a donut. Baltimore’s Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel suggested that the architects take away one of the sides so the courtyard would open up to the south and the building would have a more serpentine configuration. That let more natural light into the courtyard and makes it feel larger.
There are 153 off-street parking spaces, electric vehicle charging stations, an indoor storage area for bikes and shuttle service to campus.
‘Soldier of Civil Rights’
The building is also filled with artwork that reinforces the connections between Morgan State, McMillan and Baltimore. The game room has archival photos of student athletes. An elevator lobby has a wall graphic that lists all of the “iconic firsts” McMillan had in her life: teacher, principal, president, chair, trustee, administrator, national president.
Some of the graphics lean into the historical nature of the building’s name and the era in which McMillan made her mark. For example, the custom cursive script used for the big ‘Enolia’ sign above the main entrance is based on McMillan’s signature.
“When translated into signage, the logo’s classic aesthetic will bring a unique look to the building’s façade…while echoing back to the lettering styles of the early decades of McMillan’s long and storied career,” notes Younts Design, the environmental graphics designer, on its website. “Additionally, the graceful script emulates the elegance that Enolia epitomized throughout her life.”
The area where students get their mail boasts a mural created from enlarged newspaper and magazine clippings about McMillan and her matronly milestones.
“City woman named president of NAACP,” one newspaper headline reads. Also: “Mrs. McMillan Elected Head of Morgan Board of Trustees,” “NAACP’s Baltimore Natives Proudly Play Host at National Convention” and “Maryland’s No. 1 Woman.” “ENOLIA MCMILLAN: FEARLESS, AGELESS SOLDIER OF CIVIL RIGHTS,” an enlarged magazine cover states: “She faces the past with truth and the future with hope.”
Other graphics provide upbeat and inspirational messages that pertain to college life. “BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS,” is the message in the fitness center. The phrase “MAKE YOUR MARK” appears in numerous places.
‘Culturally competent developer’
In his remarks at the opening, Wilson praised MCB co-founder and managing partner P. David Bramble as “a true visionary” who understood Morgan State’s housing needs and responded to them.
“We had a culturally competent developer who knew what the heck he was doing,” Wilson said. “As a result of that, he brought so much respect to this enterprise. You respected Morgan. You respected the community. And that is really why we are standing here today.”
Wilson said the layout reminds him of Google’s campus on the West Coast.
“When you have a truly outstanding world-class university, where the mission is to make sure that the students are challenged and they’re going to get everything they need to be able to dance on the world stage with anyone, any place, any time, anywhere, and you marry that with a housing campus that is exuding innovation, that is exuding creativity, that is exuding calmness, then you truly have welded together the next generation of leaders,” he said. “And that’s what we have here.”
Bramble described The Enolia as “a functional, inspirational space for Morgan State University, for their students to study, grow, relax and lay the foundation to change the world.”
He thanked McMillan’s family for allowing MCB to name the building after their matriarch. “We are deeply honored to carry forward her legacy in a space that uplifts future generations.”
Besides helping Morgan State address its housing needs, he said, The Enolia will spark improvements to the surrounding area.
“This building will be a catalyst for future development along the Hamilton-Lauraville Main Street corridor,” he said. “It’s already happening. There are new businesses opening. This building will illuminate the unique public-private partnership that serves as a replicable blueprint for other universities and other critical housing challenges.”
‘Powerful American story’
Alexander Design Studio was the architect, with Charles Alexander and Katherine LePage heading the design team. MSA Interiors was the interior designer. Core Studio Design was the landscape architect. Urban Green Environmental was an environmental consultant. Morris & Ritchie Associates and DMW were the civil engineers. Henry Adams was the mechanical engineer. L. F. Jennings was the builder. Younts Design’s creative director, Ronnie Younts, is credited with suggesting that the building be named after McMillan.
Bonitz acknowledged Douglas Gwynn, the director of Morgan State’s Office of Residence Life and Housing, for helping MCB come up with ways to honor McMillan. She said Gwynn connected MCB’s team with Morgan State’s historian and archivist. They then began working with Gibson, who had primary source materials that were incorporated into the mural where students get their mail, including correspondence between McMillan and Thoroughgood “Thurgood” Marshall, the U. S. Supreme Court’s first African American justice.
“When we made the decision to name the building after Mrs. McMillan, we weren’t sure how best we could honor her legacy,” she said. “Dr. Gwynn connected us with Morgan State’s historians, their archivists, and Dr. Larry Gibson. With their generous help and with the support and encouragement of Mrs. McMillan’s family, we were able to weave her powerful American story into the fabric of this building. Her legacy as a trailblazer and changemaker became the North Star that guided us.”
Ultimately, Bonitz said, it’s up to the residents to carry on McMillan’s legacy.
“As developers, we are just the set builders,” she said. “It is the people living here who will make this building come alive.”
Investment partners
The $58 million project was privately financed, and the primary lender was WesBanco. The Wells Fargo Foundation provided grants totaling $2 million. Other supporters and investment partners included: the Morgan State Foundation; the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development; Baltimore Development Corporation; Baltimore Community Foundation; Goldseker Foundation; Harbor Bank; the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund; New Jersey Community Capital; Rethink Capital Partners and Hamilton-Lauraville Main Street Inc.
Bramble noted that The Enolia is the second project in which MCB collaborated with Morgan State, along with development of the Northwood Commons commercial center on Havenwood Road.
“From Northwood Commons to The Enolia, we’ve teamed up to support the Morgan experience now twice,” he said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership and identifying real estate solutions for the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
He also praised Wilson for his leadership.
“As a lifelong Baltimorean, I am deeply impressed by the bold and visionary growth you’ve led at Morgan,” Bramble told him. “You’ve not only expanded the campus. You’ve elevated its impact across the city and beyond, and I’m truly honored that MCB could play a role in this chapter of Morgan’s journey and to contribute to a project that reflects your leadership and commitment to excellence and ingenuity.”
More to come
The Enolia has a second phase that preserves and renovates a historic building in the area, the former Markley Hotel at 4511 Harford Road.
The three-story building opened in 1876 as Markley’s Store, home of the D. Markley Supply Company, a seed and general store and warehouse, and will be called The Markley. Plans call for the building to contain a café on the ground floor and about 24 apartments above. Completion is anticipated in 2027. The project cost is about $8 million, bringing MCB’s investment along Harford Road to $66 million.
Wilson told Bramble at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that he’s willing to entertain more development proposals from MCB.
“If you see the opportunity to come to us,” he told Bramble, “we are open for discussion.”
