Proposals are due Thursday from interested buyers of 20 acres of country club land in North Baltimore, and a community foundation is marshalling its strongest arguments — and thinking like the home developers they may be bidding against.
Along with a firm cash offer, the Roland Park Community Foundation plans to submit a slew of letters from community groups and organizations that support its bid to turn the land into a park.
It has also developed a list of reasons why the seller — the Baltimore Country Club — should chose the foundation’s proposal.
The non-profit foundation, an affiliate of the Roland Park Civic League, would not build houses on the sloping parcel, even though current zoning would allow up to 50 detached single-family homes. That alone sets it apart from private developers who are expected to bid for one of the last large development sites available along the attractive Falls Road corridor.
The foundation wants to turn the land into a community park, modeled after Sherwood Gardens in Guilford. Buying the land, group leaders say, would be a rare chance to finally “put a park in Roland Park,” and they’re willing to pay fair market value for it. (For prior Baltimore Fishbowl coverage of the park plan, click here.)
The country club announced earlier this year plans to sell 20 acres between its clubhouse at 4712 Club Road and Falls Road. The wooded hillside was once part of an 18-hole golf course. The club plans to use proceeds from the sale to improve its Five Farms golf course property in Baltimore County, while keeping the clubhouse for now for its members.
But instead of setting a firm price for the land, it has solicited competing bids from interested parties and set May 13 as the deadline.
Just as prospective homebuyers now sometimes write personal letters to sellers in hopes of gaining advantage, the foundation is preparing an offer it hopes the country club finds persuasive.
Part of the strategy, leaders say, is to make the point that this would be more than a financial transaction, and that the sale would benefit more than the Roland Park community.
“What we’re trying to say to the country club is, this isn’t just a cash offer,” said foundation president Mary Page Michel. “It’s a community offer. There’s a lot of support. It isn’t just Roland Park that’s behind this. It’s a bigger thing.”
In a series of online briefing sessions held to spread the word about their vision for the land and to raise money for their offer, Michel and other community leaders have outlined reasons why they believe the club should sell its land to the foundation. The arguments include:
Quick cash: The foundation will pay the full amount it offers, in cash, immediately. It’s not asking for a study period the way a homebuilder might.
In their fundraising campaign, foundation leaders have said they’re seeking to raise $4 million to $6 million to acquire the property and another $1 million to $2 million for improvements and an endowment to cover maintenance costs. During their briefing sessions, they’ve said they are at about 80 percent of their goal.
Because of the campaign’s success, “if they go with us, we’re going to pay them cash as fast as they can possibly settle, and that has to be attractive at some level,” Michel said.
Community support: The foundation has the support from nearby Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Western High School and the City Council representative for the district. Other supporters include the Friends of Stony Run; Friends of the Jones Falls; fans of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Baltimore Bird Club. Morgan State University’s landscape department wants to help design the park.
The fundraising effort has received contributions from residents of 20 other neighborhoods in Baltimore City, other parts of Maryland and 13 other states, Michel said in a May 6 briefing session.
“We didn’t really expect it to be as great support as we got – and really from the other neighborhoods and not just Roland Park,” she said. “It’s just been a tremendous outpouring of support…That’s been really rewarding for us.”
No zoning changes or permits: Because a park is allowed under current zoning, foundation members say, there would no need to wait for legislation and no uncertainty about getting permits or permission.
Enhancing the value of the clubhouse: The foundation argues that a park would enhance the value of the Roland Park clubhouse more than 50 houses would. They note that the club has indicated that it plans to sell its clubhouse and remaining property in about 10 years and consolidate all of its operations in Baltimore County.
“When they do sell that clubhouse, it does make that clubhouse more valuable if it’s overlooking a beautiful community park versus 50 houses,” Michel said.
No neighbor conflicts: Foundation members question whether houses on the site would be compatible with large Poly and Western events across the street when school is in session.
“If you drive by on Falls Road in the fall every Friday night, there’s Friday Night Lights,” Michel said. “It’s awesome and its fantastic if you love urban living. There’s a big band. There’s lights. There’s cars everywhere…So if you’re setting up a brand new housing development, that could set up a conflict with those new neighbors.”
Creating a city-wide asset: Unlike a new housing subdivision, foundation leaders say, Hillside Park would be open to all, “inclusive and equitable,” with playing fields, a community garden, nature trails and possibly a stage for outdoor performances.
Hours of operation would be from dawn to dusk, the same as city-owned parks. Maintenance, expected to cost $30,000 to $40,000 per year, would be covered by the endowment raised as part of the campaign. “We feel like it’s a permanent gift to Baltimore,” Michel said.
Michel and foundation secretary Chris McSherry said their group tried to determine a fair market value for the land by “backing out” the numbers, based on what can be built under the present zoning, and what therefore would be realistic for a developer to pay.
Because current zoning allows only about 50 homes, McSherry said, she doesn’t believe a homebuilder could make money on a project on the country club site if it had to pay $10 million for the land – a figure some say the country club would like to get.
“I think the only developer who could afford to pay that much money would be one who wanted to build something that wasn’t allowed under the current zoning,” she said. “They’d have to be building either an assisted living facility, a retirement community or a multi-family apartment complex to justify that price.”
The foundation has tried to think like a developer, McSherry said.
“We have a pretty good idea. We have a couple of developers on our committee. We’ve also done a lot of research with other developers around town about what the land is worth to a developer and that’s what we plan to offer them, what the land is worth to a developer.”
“There is a limit to what people would pay for a house in that location on that square footage. It’s on a fairly small lot. We’ve looked at it every which way. There’s not really a secret to how we’re figuring out what the price is.”
The foundation has scheduled a final online briefing session for May 13 at noon, at rolandpark.org. That’s one more chance for donors to make a pledge, or increase an existing one, before the offer is submitted.
The foundation is seeking to create an amenity not just for current residents but for “the generations and generations after us,” Michel said in the May 6 Zoom session.
“It’s not the end of the world to create these houses, but it’s not very creative either,” she said. “In this age of climate change issues, to be able to preserve that land for open space, to create an amenity, to find a way to make our community more inclusive, for all of those reasons, we feel the choice is clear.”
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