$200M Mixed-Use Development Planned for Baltimore's Greektown

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$200M Mixed-Use Development Planned for Baltimore's Greektown April 11, 2006 By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor Anticipating an economic resurgence in Baltimore, KSI Services Inc. is building a $200 million development of more than 1,000 upscale residences and shops on 14 acres of industrial land in the city's Greektown neighborhood. Christopher LoPiano, KSI's project executive, said today that the Vienna, Va.-based development firm has received rezoning approvals from city officials and will take possession of the site May 31 from the owner who runs a trucking operation there. He said construction should take five to seven years, with the first townhouses expected on the market by late 2007. "The first work--and fairly substantial amount of work--will all be infrastructure," he told CPN this afternoon, noting that sewer and water pipes, streets and sidewalks need to installed and connected to the surrounding neighborhood. The project calls for developing a total of 1,085 units with about 900 of them in two, 23-story high-rise condominiums and two 14-story condominium and apartment buildings. There will be 183 units built in townhouses around a 55,000-square-foot park. KSI also plans to build about 6,000 square feet of retail, focusing mainly on restaurants, coffee shops and service businesses like dry cleaners, LoPiano said. The high-rises will offer views of Baltimore's skyline, the Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Bay. LoPiano said the location is easily accessible to Interstates 895 and 95. LoPiano added that KSI has "long-term enthusiasm" for the Baltimore market, citing an ongoing expansion by Johns Hopkins University, as well as development at the nearby U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground. Among the projects planned there is an anti-terrorism training center planned by APG Development Partners for 1,300 acres of the base. He expects that KSI, which opened a Baltimore office in July, will be aggressively pursuing other development opportunities. "We think east Baltimore is extremely well situated for a major economic boom in population growth with all of these initiatives coming together," he said.