32-story apartment building proposed for Little Italy

A 32-story apartment building would rise in place of a surface parking lot in Little Italy, if City Council members pass legislation that would change zoning to permit a structure that tall.

The proposed development site is a parking lot on the east side of South President Street between Fawn Street and Eastern Avenue, just north of the 24-story, 400-unit Avalon 555 President apartment building.

With an anticipated construction cost of more than $200 million, the building would be one of the tallest in the city, with unobstructed views westward toward the Inner Harbor and downtown skyline and eastward toward Highlandtown and Canton. Preliminary plans call for 276 apartments with street-level commercial space and some on-site parking.

The Little Italy project is the second this fall for which a developer is seeking a zoning change to allow a 32-story apartment tower close to Baltimore’s downtown waterfront. The other is a 32-story tower proposed for 303 Light St. by MCB Real Estate as part of a $500 million reconstruction of the property that contains the two Harborplace pavilions. Baltimore’s Planning Commission has scheduled a hearing for Thursday at 2 p.m. to consider zoning and height limit changes for that project.

The developer of the Little Italy tower is Lou Madigan, working with the property owner, identified in state land records as KL President Street LLC/President Street Ventures LLC of Newark, New Jersey. The architect would be Peter Fillat of FILLAT+ Architecture. 

Plans for the President Street tower were discussed during a meeting yesterday of the Little Italy Neighborhood Association (LINA). The development team was not present at the meeting but had met with LINA members in October.  

Current zoning allows a building on the site to rise 125 feet, or about 12 stories. The developers are seeking legislation that would allow a building up to 350 feet tall.

Since 2019, LINA has been the name of the non-profit group previously known as the Little Italy Property Owners Association. Its members voted in October not to support the request for a height limit increase for the President Street project, with 60 percent in opposition. Residents voiced a variety of concerns about the project, including questions about traffic congestion, building shadows and possible use of city-owned property at President Street and Eastern Avenue as part of the development. A second Little Italy group, the Little Italy Community Organization, supports increasing the height limit.

LINA’s meeting this week drew several dozen people. Answering questions about the project was Maggie Master, Chief of Staff to Baltimore City Councilmember Zeke Cohen, whose district includes Little Italy. As the First District representative, Cohen is the council member who would introduce legislation to change the height limit for a property in his district.

Master said Cohen likely will introduce legislation to change zoning for 301 S. President St. She said his bill would allow a structure rising up to 350 feet.

Between the two community organizations in Little Italy, “a majority of people who voted, voted for the building,” she said. “Zeke has not submitted rezoning legislation yet, although most likely will do so given a majority of people favor the project…At the end of the day, I think having studied this incredibly closely and had many, many conversations both with neighborhood, with businesses, with city planning and with the developers, do believe ultimately it is going to be a benefit for this community and for the city.”

One advantage of permitting a taller structure, Master said, is that replacing the parking lot with an apartment tower would add to the city’s tax base.

She said the parking lot currently generates about $17,000 a year in tax revenues but the proposed apartment tower would generate about $2.5 million per year in tax revenue. In addition, she said, residents of the apartment building likely would patronize the shops, restaurants and services in Little Italy, providing an economic boost for businesses there.  

In response to a question from former Maryland State Delegate Maggie McIntosh, Master said the developers aren’t seeking Tax Increment Financing or other tax breaks from the city to build their project. She noted that they would be required to go through the city’s design review process, as the developers of the Avalon building did, before the city will issue building permits.

“There are multiple stages of the process beyond this where the community can both have both public testimony, public input and also public feedback and weigh-in,” she said. “There are going to be at least two opportunities during the rezoning process, both before the planning board and then also before the city council,” for members of the public to testify. She said the entire review and permitting process could take two to three years.

Several residents questioned the proposal to increase the height limit.

Julia Day, a resident of Scarlett Place at 250 S. President Street, said the city’s Planning Department went through a comprehensive process when it arrived at the current 125-foot height limit in the ‘Transform Baltimore’ zoning code that went into effect in 2017. She said increasing the height limit beyond 125 feet would contradict the city’s previous planning recommendations.

“It’s blown up by almost three times,” she said of the current proposal. “It’s just getting crazy.”

Resident Elaine Welkie asked why Cohen didn’t meet with LINA members himself.

“If Councilman Cohen plans on requesting the building go to 350 feet or whatever, why doesn’t he come to the meeting and talk to us?” she asked. “This is the second meeting I’ve been to, talking about one of the biggest projects in Little Italy, and he has not been here yet.”

“You can always call Zeke, and he always answers,” Master said.

“That’s not the same as meeting with the community,” Welkie said.

Master said after the meeting that Cohen could introduce his bill as soon as next month, if he decides to move ahead. “It’s not even a final decision right now,” she said during the meeting. “It’s been a very challenging decision to figure out.”

LINA’s leaders circulated a letter in which they asked Cohen to hold off on introducing his bill so they could have more time to meet again with the developers and get their questions answered. One question they have is what would happen to the project if the zoning change is approved and the owners decide to sell the land to another developer.

“There are still critical questions that need to be resolved,” said the letter, signed by president Dan Sutherland-Weiser, vice president Lisa Regnante and treasurer Nancy Hayden. “We should not rush into a zoning change that will change Baltimore’s landscape for the next 100 years.”