The owners of a prime development parcel in Remington admit they didn’t initially intend to keep their current tenant when they began formulating plans to redevelop the property.
But after sharing preliminary design concepts and talking with members of the community, they say, they have changed their stance and decided to keep it.
The tenant is 7-Eleven, and the parcel is the triangular plot at 211 West 28th Street. The chain operates a convenience store that’s open 24 hours a day — one of dozens in the greater Baltimore area.
The land is owned by Seawall, a local developer that’s working with Charm City Buyers to redevelop the property when 7-Eleven’s lease expires at the end of the year. Seawall’s current plans call for a six-story, 60-unit apartment building with ground-level commercial space and a landscaped plaza at the south end, where the community’s ‘R’ sculpture stands.
In a newsletter that was emailed to community members last week, Seawall partner Matt Pinto wrote that the development team intends to make 7-Eleven a tenant of the new building, even though it didn’t initially plan to do so. He also discussed the thought process behind Seawall’s change of heart in an article titled: “What if we let our initial impression be wrong and were guided by the community’s wishes for future project plans?”
About 10 years ago, before any of its projects on Remington Avenue like R. House and Remington Row had opened, “we had the opportunity to buy a triangle-shaped property at the corner of 28th Street and Remington Avenue,” Pinto’s message began. “At the time, there was just a 7-Eleven convenience store, parking lot, and a trash-filled patch of grass reaching down towards 27th Street. We knew the community envisioned Remington Ave. becoming a walkable urban main street, and we saw the strategic value of holding this property to possibly redevelop in the future.”
After buying the property, Pinto wrote, “we worked to get to know the 7-Eleven ownership, and also asked the community what we might do with the neglected grassy area. That conversation turned into sprucing up the area with a walking path and a 20-foot-tall ‘R’ sculpture that provided some artistic placemaking.”
This is where Pinto provided a candid view into the development team’s thought process.
“If we’re being honest,” he wrote, “we envisioned that a future redevelopment at this site would not include a 7-Eleven. It was constantly getting robbed, and the parking lot was always filled with trash. We thought we could do better, but we were missing some nuance. The more we talked to the community about what amenities and businesses they valued in the neighborhood, 7-Eleven was consistently on that list; it was open 24 hours a day, had staples like coffee and quick bites at reasonable prices, and felt accessible to all.”
Now, he continued, “we’re ready to launch a redevelopment of this parcel at 211 W. 28th Street in early 2025 — featuring a mixed use project that keeps the 7-Eleven as its anchor, adds a space for a locally owned retail shop, includes 60 modern apartments in a colorful building, and perhaps most notably, creates a 13,000-square-foot public park and green space with 26 new trees, play spaces and splash pads for kids, and multiple gathering spaces. We plan to integrate the ‘R’ sculpture within this park, of course.”
Pinto ended his message by saying Seawall will have more details to share as plans are finalized, and the community has guided the process.
“As we reflect on what got us to this point,” he said, “we’re embracing the fact that sometimes our initial impressions are wrong, and that listening to the community always provides the final word.”
“…listening to the community always provides the final word.” If only the Baltimore Development Corp would follow this. Time and again, neighborhood decisions are made by people who don’t live there. The social engineering think tanks make executive decisions, expensive architectural concepts are drawn up and THEN, they allow the public to have a peek and a ‘say’ in what is going on. (which is usually ignored).