EPA Region 3 – Montgomery Park Business Center, Baltimore, Maryland

Photography by Dan Cunningham

By combining the elements of brownfields remediation, multi-party financing, historic tax credits, and sustainable building concepts, the Montgomery Park Business Center demonstrates a vision of the adaptive reuse of large commercial structures in distressed urban environments. Selected as the grand prize Phoenix Award winner, Montgomery Park Business Center transformed a 26-acre brownfields site into a 1.3 million sq. ft. architecturally attractive facility that leases space to firms currently employing 1,800 people in professional, administrative, technical, and financial job classifications. Easy access to downtown Baltimore, Interstate 95, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and the Baltimore Beltway makes this business complex particularly attractive to the “new economy” sector of high technology, e-commerce, and computer-related firms. In addition, the site is adjacent to Carroll Park, a city park dating to 1890, and the site of a segment of the Gwynn Falls trail, a 14-mile hiking-biking trail currently under construction as a linear park.

Before Redevelopment

After Redevelopment

Lobby

Health Club

Food Court

The site is located at the edge of southwest Baltimore's commercial and industrial area, in the West Side Empowerment Zone (EZ). Brick, paint, and varnishing operations occupied the site prior to construction of the Montgomery Ward Catalog House and Retail Store in 1925. Built as the east coast distribution center, the eight-story structure was once the largest mercantile building in Baltimore. The building is historically significant for its association with the growth of the mail order/catalog business in the United States, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Montgomery Ward closed the facility in 1985 due to increasing financial difficulties and termination of its catalog division. The building remained unused for 15 years until it was purchased for redevelopment in 2000.

The major contaminant at the site was lead paint. Removal of this contaminant was extensive since lead paint was used to paint both the interior and exterior of the large building. Asbestos, petroleum, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and six underground storage tanks were also removed at a cost of approximately $2 million. Remediation activities involved leaving the shell building intact and installing new systems within it. The building was developed as a “green building” earning the highest “gold” rating under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system, the national standard for sustainable buildings. The building has reduced energy use, conserves water, and makes extensive use of recycled, low-impact and formaldehyde-free products. One of the building's unique features is a 30,000 sq. ft. “green roof” consisting of low maintenance alpine plants grown in a lightweight soil. The roof functions to lessen stormwater runoff by as much as 75%, and reduces the surface temperature of the roof as much as 40° F.

Obtaining financing was a major challenge in the redevelopment of this site. Traditional private lending institutions were hesitant to loan money without tenants, and tenants could not be found without the surety that the financing was in place to accomplish the necessary remediation and rehabilitation. The cooperative efforts of city, state, and federal agencies, community leaders, the Baltimore Development Corporation, and the development team partnering to fashion a unique financing package was an integral aspect of this project. By carefully structuring multi-party financing in a way that ensured the confidence of traditional lending institutions, the developer was able to obtain the necessary lender commitments. The redevelopment of Montgomery Park Business Center would not have been possible without creative use of HUD Section 108 loans, the state brownfields revitalization loan, and state and federal historic tax credit programs.

Opening 1½ years ago in a recession economy, the Montgomery Park Business Center is currently 40% occupied by firms employing 1,800 people. With a potential to accommodate up to 5,000 jobs, this project reaches beyond the neighborhood and the city by changing regional growth patterns to favor urban revitalization over sprawl development. The Montgomery Park Business Center is serving as a catalyst for reinvestment in the community. The long-stalled Camden Crossing project (a market-rate townhome redevelopment of a brownfields site) broke ground in the spring of 2003, and a “Live-Near-Your-Work” campaign linking the two projects is planned. An industrial redevelopment of another brownfields site, the Durette-Sheppard property, is also planned.

For further information about this project, contact Lynn Berger at (410) 468-4655 or via e-mail at Lberger@himmelrichassociates.com.

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