Urban Discoveries Baltimore

Pigtown, Baltimore made its name and reputation on the steady parade of swine trundling through the neighborhood from B&O boxcars and into the local slaughterhouse. While most days you’re less likely to encounter many porcine residents than you might once have been, Pigtown is still a rich and (despite city-wide trends) growing slice of Baltimore. And what it will be known for next is––at the moment––up for grabs.

Historic Pigtown Development, which has held development rights to several adjacent commercial and residential addresses in the neighborhood since fall of 2006, announced this year that it won’t be financially equipped to go forward with its plan for a roughly $1.6 million renovation of the properties. Despite this setback, the Baltimore Development Corporation has put out a new request for proposals from developers with a due date of November 10, 2009. The properties involved include 925, 927, 929, 931, and 937 Washington Blvd. As in other cases, the BDC has encountered resistance from local property owners concerning Baltimore City’s eminent domain laws. The last owner of 937 Washington Blvd. dropped the relevant suit in 2006.

The BDC will is interested in proposals that would accommodate the area’s historical appeal; in particular demand are restaurants and cafes, coffee shops, small scale grocery stores, bookstores, bakeries, family video stores, pharmacies, upscale convenience stores, florists, ice cream shops, hardware stores, art-related stores, camera shops, lodging facilities, yoga studios, and art galleries.

In other BDC news, the also-controversial Parkway Theatre RFP we talked about before recently elicited two solid bites. Let’s hope this means we’ll be taking in Chaplin with a Wurlitzer there soon.   What new development do you think Pigtown needs?

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