Little Italy community members to vote on proposal for a high-rise apartment building at 301 S. President St.

Nearly two years after a developer’s plans to build a high-rise apartment building in Little Italy were shot down by community residents, the developer is trying again.

Members of two community organizations in Little Italy are being asked to vote to indicate whether they would like to see the parking lot at 301 S. President St. rezoned to permit construction of an apartment tower. The voting deadline is Oct. 1.

The poll is being conducted by the Little Italy Neighborhood Association (LINA) and The Original Little Italy Community Organization (TOLICO). LINA president Lisa Regnante said at a community meeting on Tuesday that the vote has been requested by first-term City Council member Jermaine Jones, who didn’t represent Little Italy when the proposal was debated in 2023 and 2024 but does now. Zeke Cohen, who represented Little Italy on the council in 2023 and 2024, is now the City Council President.

The proposed development site is on the east side of President Street between Fawn Street and Eastern Avenue, just north of the 24-story, 400-unit Avalon 555 President apartment building. A developer named Lou Madigan has been working with the owner of the President Street lot, identified in state land records at KL President Street LLC/President Street Ventures LLC of Newark, New Jersey, on a plan to build apartments there.

In 2023, Madigan’s team unveiled preliminary plans to construct a 32-story apartment building with 276 apartments, street-level commercial space and some parking, at a cost of more than $200 million, if the city would rezone the land to permit a building of that size.

The lot is currently in a C-5-DE zoning district, a category that permits buildings up to 125 feet, or about 12 stories. Cohen introduced legislation in 2023 that would make the parcel part of a C-5-DC zoning district, a category that puts no height limit on new construction. Cohen’s bill was introduced around the same time that the council voted to rezone land near the intersection of Pratt and Light streets so it’s in the ‘unlimited height’ category and MCB Real Estate could construct two apartment towers there. But the President Street bill never passed and Madigan was unable to move ahead with his project.

Regnante said on Tuesday that the developer still wants to change zoning for the property to put it in the unlimited height category. She told LINA members that he now wants to construct a building that would rise about 24 stories, approximately the same height as the Avalon building one block south, and has asked Jones to support legislation that would permit a tower that high. She said that Jones, as the area’s new elected representative, wants to understand what the community thinks about the project before he makes a decision and has asked LINA and TOLICO to poll its members.

In 2023 and 2024, the Little Italy rezoning proposal drew strong opposition from community members who said a 32-story building would be out of scale for the mostly low-rise community. They warned that it would cast shadows on the rowhouses to the east, have a “wind tunnel effect,” and lead to traffic and parking problems in the area, among other concerns. Proponents said a 32-story, 276-unit building would add to the city’s tax base and help the local economy by bringing in more residents who would support the shops, restaurants and other businesses in Little Italy.

Jones attended the LINA meeting on Tuesday and spoke about his desire to hear from the community. Representatives for the development team did not address the members.

The high-rise proposal was the subject of two separate votes in 2023 – one by LINA members, who voted 32 to 20 to oppose a zoning change, and one by TOLICO members, who voted 18 to 0 to support a change. This time, Regnante said, the two organizations are taking one vote.

Peter Fillat of FILLAT+ Architecture was the architect of the 32-story proposal. Regnante said there are no new renderings to show and no new unit count. She said architectural renderings aren’t being considered for the poll because the issue is about waiving the existing height limit for the President Street property, not a specific development proposal. She said design details could be addressed later, if the land is rezoned to permit a building taller than 125 feet.

Paper ballots are available at Café Gia’s, 410 S. High St., and Sweet Louie’s Salon, 245 Albemarle St. More information about the poll is available by contacting Regnante at: president@BaltimoreLINA.org.