When a Public Storage opened recently in the shadow of the Ravens' football stadium, a Baltimore official quipped that the facility could store national championship trophies.
Managers of one of the first businesses to open since the city began redeveloping the Carroll Camden Industrial Park area say they are expecting a lot more business than that.
The City Council approved in March an urban renewal plan that calls for an overhaul of Carroll Camden, a gritty 500-acre business park flanking Russell Street at Baltimore's southern gateway.
"It's underutilized," said Andrew Frank, executive vice president of Baltimore Development Corp., the city agency spearheading the efforts. "It's always been an industrial area. We think we can begin to change its image on both sides of the street. ... There's a lot of potential."
Carroll Camden Industrial Park is home to about 160 businesses with more than 6,000 employees. But some are industrial businesses that the city wants out, and few are offices. Even fewer are taking advantage of the waterfront on the east side of the park near Public Storage. BDC estimates about 40 percent of the space is not fully used, including 50 acres of empty lots.
City officials say the location near downtown, sports stadiums, highways, railroads and the waterfront makes it a prime candidate for new uses beyond heavy industry. But the park's "ability to spontaneously redevelop" is hampered by access to the highways, outdated buildings and contamination from past industrial users, according to the urban renewal plan.
The plan sets design and use standards, and calls for landscaping to improve one of the city's main entries from the south and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. It also plans easier access routes.
The city has undertaken efforts in other similarly run-down areas of the city, including a small stretch of East Baltimore Street and a large piece of downtown's west side.
Parcel process
City agencies sell revenue bonds to buy parcels, then resell the parcels to developers willing to invest in old properties or build anew. The process, officials say, jump-starts redevelopment and also gives the city a level of control. The city also offers businesses incentives and improves the streets and infrastructure.
The city will pursue the same strategy in Carroll Camden. Along Warner Street, the eastern edge of the park, the city plans during the next two years to buy several properties, which are mostly vacant.
The city will then cobble together a few parcels and seek bids from developers who want to transform them into offices. A few more parcels will be acquired on the west side of Russell Street for light industry, which will remain the primary use in much of the park.
Frank thinks office users would be attracted to the east side of Russell Street because of the proximity to Camden Yards and the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. He acknowledged that demand might be low now, but he views Carroll Camden as an extension of the harbor and stadium area and expects businesses that outgrow their downtown space in the next several years to migrate there.
Eventually, 2,000 workers could be toiling along Warner Street. About 60 are now.
"I think there's a cachet to being near the stadiums," said Frank. "And there's the waterfront right there. ... It will be a few years before anything happens. We're looking to the future. There will be demand."
The east side of Russell Street, away from the heavy industry, could make a good office center because it has assets, such as costs, some in the real estate community agreed.
"Its advantage is that it's a gateway to the city, and it's primed for being redeveloped," said David W. Baird, chief operating officer at Insignia/Miller, a commercial real estate company. "It's a natural extension of Camden Yards and the Ravens stadium, but to say it's a natural extension of the harbor is a bit of a stretch.
"On the bright side, the city does have a plan and a vision for pulling office development to the east side, and that's a good idea. ... Those businesses that are not as image-conscious, not as concerned with the view, will choose it. It's bound to be cheaper" than downtown or other waterfront markets.
Suburban-style access
Alfred W. Barry III, a development consultant, agreed that price could draw tenants that cannot afford downtown but want the ease of suburban-style parking and access without going to the suburbs.
He said the city started creating a master plan for the area two or three years ago and involved many real estate and development professionals. The urban renewal plan will help to implement the vision.
"The city realized that it was off the radar screen of the development community and did a good job focusing attention on it," he said. "There is a legitimate framework for attracting offices potentially."
J. William Miller, senior vice president of KLNB Inc., a real estate company, said that "getting the first tenant, a good clean office user that will attract others, will be the key."
To generate demand, the city will spend. The acquisitions are expected to cost about $6 million to $8 million. Expenditures to improve the appearance of Russell Street are expected to total $5 million to $6 million in city, state and federal money.
And that does not include the foregone income to public coffers from tax breaks afforded businesses that locate in the park. Carroll Camden lies in a state enterprise zone and a federal empowerment zone, which offer businesses up to 10 years of income and property tax cuts as well as other incentives. A newly created state focus area within the park allows businesses to collect additional tax credits.
Frank said businesses and others have committed millions of dollars to the area, largely beyond the city efforts. But aside from the conversion of the former Montgomery Ward building on the western edge of the park into offices, few office projects are in the works.
Developers, buoyed by public loans, are expected to spend about $100 million on Montgomery Park. About a quarter of the building is leased.
Agency records show offices are also planned in at least one Ridgely Street building.
Others have committed millions of dollars more during the past two years to buy and renovate properties in the park, mostly for industrial uses such as manufacturing or distribution, according to records at BDC.
They include Chesapeake Biological Laboratories' vaccine manufacturing plant on West Street, AFSME's Bush Street headquarters, Simm-Kee's soft-drink distribution facility on Ostend Street, Baltimore Poultry's chicken-processing operation on Ridgely Street, the Maryland Transit Administration's maintenance facility on Monroe Street and AT&T;'s Haines Street building.
Officials at Public Storage said the park ought to provide a steady stream of business.
The company invested about $8 million in its newest facility, along Warner Street, which has three full-time workers, said Judith A. Johnson, vice president of operations.
'Look at what's coming'
Eighty-six of the 726 units were leased to small businesses the day of the official opening, which was about two months after the building quietly began signing up clients. That is an average amount of business for a new facility, Johnson said.
"We look at demographics, traffic patterns, businesses and residents in the community, other storage facilities that exist and future possibilities," Johnson said of Public Storage's requirements to open a new building. "You have to look at what's coming in the future."
Narin Beaty, chief technical officer at Chesapeake Biological Labs, said Carroll Camden suits his business.
'Close to everything'
The company moved to the park in 1998, recently expanded to a neighboring building and plans to buy more buildings soon. Beaty said the company's first building, on Paca Street, was just what officials were looking for: big, empty and affordable. He said that none of the buildings surrounding the labs is empty but that aesthetic improvements could help the rest of the park attract tenants.
"It's good to be in the city so then we can attract employees from all around," he said. "We're close to everything. It's a good location. ... The city does need to institute a streetscape program to beautify it a little bit."