New developers selected for Baltimore’s Clipper Mill community aim to add 48 townhouses and about 99 apartments over the next several years, according to preliminary plans that will be presented to the community this week.
Valstone Partners, the new owner for much of the land at Clipper Mill, has chosen two developers, Garver Development Group and a company called Commercial Development, to build on two key parcels within the community. Valstone owns nearly eight acres of property at the complex, and is hiring developers to build on them.
Valstone representatives are scheduled to meet with community residents tonight to provide an update on efforts to redevelop the two parcels and set aside additional land for a forest conservation area. The meeting will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Poole & Hunt meeting room at Clipper Mill.
According to Caroline Paff of V.I. Development, a consultant working with Valstone, Garver was selected to develop a parcel at 2001 Druid Park Drive, also known as the Poole & Hunt Parking parcel.
Garver’s plan calls for 48 rental townhouses, including a combination of two-bedroom houses rising three stories, and three-bedroom houses rising four stories. Brown Craig Turner is the architect, and Scot Huot Landscape is the landscape architect.
The team hopes to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2019 and have the townhouses ready for occupancy by early 2021. A Valstone entity will be the owner; Garver is serving as the “fee developer.”
Commercial Development was selected to redevelop the historic Tractor Building at Clipper Mill. Its plan calls for about 99 rental apartments, between 140 and 155 parking spaces and a small amount of commercial space at street level.
The proposed building is six stories tall, with one level of parking below grade. The roof and rear wall of the Tractor Building will be removed, but the rest of the brick shell will be preserved as part of the project, under the developer’s plans.
Marren Architects and Design Collective make up the design team. Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2020 and take about 16 months to complete. Valstone will own the building.
In addition to the residences, Valstone has identified 1.5 acres it owns at Clipper Mill to be set aside as a forest conservation area. Its plan calls for another 0.7-acre parcel on the Millrace Condominiums lot to be part of the conservation area as well.
According to Paff, 2.2 “high-quality” acres of forest were retained by a previous developer and placed in an easement under a 2003 plan.
The city has approved a Planned Unit Development zoning overlay (PUD) for nearly 18 acres acres at Clipper Mill, including streets, alleys and a quarter of an acre on Druid Park Drive.
According to Paff, a Valstone entity called VS Clipper Mill controls 7.75 acres of private property within the 17.66 acres, plus the Druid Park Drive lots. It does not control the Millrace Condominiums, the Townhomes or the Overlook Homes at Clipper Mill, she said.
Paff said the PUD approved by the Planning Department and City Council entitles VS Clipper Mill to redevelop the Tractor Building and the Poole and Hunt Parking lot area. She said VS Clipper Mill plans to retain the developed properties long term and is not contemplating the use of any public funds to complete them.
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