Mayor Catherine E. Pugh is scheduled to announce plans Wednesday for the redevelopment of Lexington Market led by Seawall Development.
The Baltimore-based developer is responsible for converting many older buildings into new uses in the city, including an old automotive showroom in Remington that became the popular R. House food hall in 2016.
The city did not offer any specifics of the plan for the historic market on the West Side of downtown, and Seawall didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment on Tuesday evening when Pugh’s office sent an advisory about the market. Involving Seawall, however, suggests the city may be planning to overhaul the property rather build a new structure.
Officials have planned for years to renovate or replace of Lexington Market, one of the oldest operating markets in the country, only to see plans stall and the plight of the tenants worsen.
It suffered one of its worst marketing mishaps earlier this year when a patron caught video of a rat in a bakery case. Sales fell 50 percent in a month.
But sales had been dropping before that, according to tenants, who have complained about everything from the plumbing to the air conditioning. Drug sales outside of the market also are blamed for the dip.