Baltimore's plan to redevelop downtown's west side gained a major boost yesterday when NationsBank announced that it will dedicate $100 million to develop and finance new projects in the renewal area.
In addition to investing and providing construction and small-business loans, NationsBank will explore developing parcels in the $350 million project, including the block across from the Hippodrome Theater, bank officials said.
John Morton III, president of NationsBank Mid-Atlantic Banking Group, said that aiding the largest city renewal project since the Inner Harbor will help the bank tap into a new customer base.
The pledge is expected to spur the project, about which Gov. Parris N. Glendening has expressed reservations.
"Our objective is to be a catalyst for all stockholders to get the confidence that this is really going to happen," Morton said. "If the community begins to believe this will happen, it will really happen."
Proponents of the west-side plan applauded the commitment, but small merchants whose businesses would be bought out by the redevelopment are steadfastly against the proposal.
Baltimore Development Corp., the city's economic-development agency, unveiled the west-side plan in June. The proposal includes redeveloping an area bounded by Saratoga, Paca and Camden streets and Hopkins Plaza.
City leaders hope to create 2,500 apartments and street-level shops to reinvigorate downtown living.
By redeveloping the area -- where one in four shops is vacant -- the city hopes to link the Inner Harbor, Charles Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and other city leaders are eager for the project, which is expected to add $2.3 million in property taxes to the city's stagnant tax base.
The west-side project coincides with a $53 million plan to renovate the Hippodrome, a vintage 1914 theater in the first block of N. Eutaw St. that is targeted to become the city's new performing arts center.
NationsBank's commitment is the second multimillion-dollar pledge to the project.
In December, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation proposed investing $71 million in its decaying Stewart's department store at Howard and Lexington streets.
The Weinberg foundation proposal includes building a middle-income apartment complex and parking garage on Lexington Street and converting the adjoining department store, built in 1899, into a call center for private mail-order catalog sales, credit-card account assistance and telemarketers.
'An excellent commitment'
NationsBank's pledge yesterday elated proponents of the west-side plan.
"We think it's fantastic, we couldn't be happier," said Joel Wine-garden of the Weinberg foundation. "I think it's an excellent commitment."
Last month, the city Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the west-side plan. The City Council is expected to approve it during the next two weeks and Schmoke will likely sign it within a month.
The major opposition to the project has come from merchants who would lose their properties to the renovation. The plan calls for 127 properties to be condemned and purchased by the city, with shop owners vacating by the beginning of next year.
NationsBank officials said yesterday that they hope to help displaced shop owners who want to remain downtown by offering small-business loans through its Small Business Resources Center at Charles and Baltimore streets.
"It's more than the money for us," Morton said. "Part of what we bring to the table is our expertise."
NationsBank, which merged in September with San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corp., is the country's largest banking company with $618 billion in assets. It's also Maryland's largest, with 213 banking centers.
The bank has been earning praise from community-development groups nationwide for similar redevelopment pledges.
Bruce Marks, executive director of Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, a Boston-based community advocacy housing services organization, said NationsBank is reviving neighborhoods in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; and Memphis, Tenn. By commiting to such projects, the company is forcing other banks to join in, Marks said.
"They are not afraid to rock the boat," Marks said.
Similar ventures elsewhere
About a year ago, NationsBank pledged to invest $100 million to revive blighted areas of downtown St. Louis. The company is making good on its promise, said JoAnne LaSala, president of St. Louis 2004, a nonprofit group that works for economic change in the city.
The bank has invested a portion of the money into turning abandoned warehouses near Busch Stadium into office space, recruiting a Westin hotel and converting old factories into loft apartments, LaSala said.
"The story from St. Louis is really good," LaSala said. "I just can't tell you how pleased we are with the level of leadership and commitment."
In Baltimore, NationsBank has lent $438 million in low- and moderate-income communities during the past two years. The loans include home, small-business and home-improvement loans.
Also, NationsBank recently invested $5.2 million in Canton's former American Can Co. complex and provided $5.3 million in financing for the Parren J. Mitchell Business Center along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Questions about the west-side plan's viability surfaced last month when Glendening did not include $1.7 million in the state budget to continue feasibility and design studies for the Hippodrome. Glendening expressed concern about committing state resources to the theater project because of the condition of the surrounding blocks.
Morton hopes that the NationsBank commitment will draw other lenders into the project and eliminate doubts about the plan, he said.
"We'll have people competing with us," Morton said. "A lot of these projects are going to be very attractive."
Pub Date: 3/18/99