Baltimore City wants to sell the vacant city-owned office building at 210 Guilford Ave., one block from City Hall.
On behalf of the Office of the Comptroller, City Council President Zeke Cohen on Sept. 28 introduced Bill 26-0241, which would authorize the Mayor and City Council to sell the five-story office building at either a public or private sale. Council member Zac Blanchard is a sponsor of the bill.
According to state land records, the building was constructed in 1968 and contains 139,965 square feet of space above grade. It occupies 27,900 square feet of land – more than half an acre. The city has owned it since 2004 and has used it to house various agencies, including divisions of the Department of Transportation. Before that, it was used as an operations center for Signet Bank/Maryland. For the past three years, the city has used it solely for storage.
A summary of Bill 26-0241 states that the Comptroller wants to sell the building because it is “no longer needed for public use.” Officials say the bill was introduced this fall because “there are parties interested in purchasing” it. The parties have not been identified. The city’s plan is to offer the building through a publicly listed sale.
The office building is connected to a two-level, 220-space parking deck at the southwest corner of Guilford Avenue and Saratoga Street. The sale of the parking deck is not included in Bill 26-0241 but officials say it may be sold separately.
The Comptroller’s Office includes the city’s Department of Real Estate, a division that oversees the sale of certain surplus city properties. The building at 210 Guilford Avenue is located close to government offices, the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, Interstate 83 and privately-owned office and residential buildings downtown. A former city-owned building one block to the north at 222 E. Saratoga St. has been converted to market-rate apartments, with monthly rents ranging from about $1,500 to about $2,150.
According to land records, 210 Guilford Ave. has an assessed value of $7,571,167 as of July 1 but is currently tax exempt. A sale to a private for-profit buyer would put it on the public tax rolls and would generate tax revenue for the city.
Bill 26-0241 has been referred to the council’s Land Use and Transportation Committee for a public hearing. Any sale must be approved by the city’s Board of Estimates before it becomes final.
