Construction Begins on $70M Centerpoint Development

BALTIMORE, MD-Construction of Centerpoint, the $70million mixed-use project on the city’s West Side, has begun with a groundbreaking that took place today. Centerpoint Development, LLC, a joint venture between Atlanta, GA-based Harold A. Dawson Co. and the development entity of Bank of America, are behind the project, which is expected to contribute to the revitalization of the Howard Street Corridor. Other such developments are to follow in the region as part of the Baltimore Development Corporation’s $800-million housing, retail and office redevelopment plan for the 100-block West Side area.

“It’s a development project that will provide residential, retail, parking and a restaurant right in the middle of downtown,” Tony White, a spokesman for Baltimore mayor Martin O’Malley’s office, told GlobeSt.com. He declined to comment further on the endeavor, which will feature a 394-unit, 17-story apartment tower, 35,000 sf of retail space, and a parking garage to accommodate up to 400 vehicles. The complex will occupy an entire square-block surrounded by Howard, Eutaw, Baltimore and Fayette Streets. Part of the project also includes the redevelopment and preservation of nine historic buildings on that block.

The Centerpoint development was conceived back in December of 1999 when the JV won development rights following the BDC’s Request for Proposals six months earlier. Baltimore spent $12 million to acquire the structures that existed on the square-block site, and then sold the 2-acre parcel to the JV for approximately $6 million. “We move closer to fulfilling our pledge to provide $100 million in financing or equity investment in the City of Baltimore’s downtown West Side revitalization initiative,” Bank of America Greater Baltimore president William R. Lorenz said at the time of the Land Disposition Agreement’s approval. The bank’s other area projects include Lexington Market and Heritage Crossing. Centerpoint is scheduled for completion sometime in 2004.