Roughly six acres of trees and other vegetation in North Roland Park are being cut down to make way for a three-story senior living community on a hillside near the intersection of Falls Road and Northern Parkway.
The partially-barren hillside, visible from sections of Falls Road and Northern Parkway, signals that NexCore Group of Denver has begun construction of The Gallery at Roland Park – An Experience Senior Living Community.
The cleared land is just east of The Falls at Roland Park apartment building at 1090 W. Northern Parkway. NexCore acquired a 12-acre wooded parcel in late 2024, is developing six acres, and has pledged not to develop the other six acres.
A privately-owned healthcare real estate development, investment and management company, NexCore has a senior housing subsidiary called Experience Senior Living that operates upscale communities for seniors around the country. It replaced Claiborne Senior Living of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as the developer of the parcel at 1110 Northern Parkway. The Gallery at Roland Park is its first project in Maryland.
Plans call for construction of a 111-unit rental community, with 82 residences for independent or assisted living and 29 designated as memory care units. The project is similar to what Claiborne obtained city zoning approval to construct, but the interior design has been modified by NexCore. In all, 4.247 of the 12 acres will be dedicated to forest conservation, according to the developer.
Claiborne had told city officials that its project would cost $25 million; NexCore has not disclosed what its project will cost to build. Arrive Architecture Group of Dallas, Texas, is the architect, and Senior by Design of Dallas is the interior designer. Howard Shockey & Sons of Winchester, Virginia, is the general contractor.
As part of the project NexCore has agreed to plant trees on the portion of the property that it’s developing, but the trees it plants won’t be as big as many of the ones that have been taken down.
On May 7 Baltimore’s spending panel, the Board of Estimates, approved a developer’s agreement that allows a NexCore affiliate, ESL Roland Park LLC, to install “new utilities including Sewers, Water Service and Meter, sidewalks and driveway to its property.”
The agreement allows ESL Roland Park to complete installation of the utilities in accordance with Baltimore City standards. A performance bond in the amount of $104,256 has been issued to ESL Roland Park, which assumes 100 percent of the financial liability. In order to move ahead, the developer agreed to pay the city a non-refundable fee in the amount of $9,383.04, a figure that’s equal to nine percent of the performance bond amount.
The project’s target completion date is the first quarter of 2027.
Thank you for this article it was very informative. As usual seniors have to fight for decent and safe housing in Baltimore City. Winning this one in an upscale neighborhood means everything to me being a senior and a baby boomer.