Senior center plan gains

The Baltimore Sun

An unconventional land swap in which a developer would build Baltimore a senior center in exchange for a piece of Mount Vernon property scored a key endorsement yesterday from the city's economic development board.

Despite concerns that building a 600-unit apartment complex geared toward young people might disturb older folks at what would be the new Waxter Center next door, the Baltimore Development Corp. board approved the $100 million deal yesterday, calling it a risk-free way for the city to get a state-of-the-art hub for the elderly and more people living near the heart of the city.

"The goal is to get a new Waxter Center built, and if there can be another development where it's the developer's risk, not the city's risk, that's appealing," said BDC President M.J. "Jay" Brodie.

Developer Howard Chambers has proposed constructing an apartment/condominium building on the site of the Waxter Center, a 34-year-old complex in need of millions of dollars' worth of repairs and renovations. If he gets the property, valued at slightly more than $3 million, Chambers promises to build a senior center worth $8 million on what is now the Waxter parking lot.

Officials with Baltimore's Commission on Aging and Retirement Education, who have been raising money for years to renovate the outdated Waxter, are thrilled at the idea of a new center yet worried that their elderly clients might not peacefully coexist with the twentysomething homebuyers Chambers is seeking.

Chambers wants to build small, European-style apartments aimed at young people, particularly those who populate the Mount Vernon area's schools -- Maryland Institute College of Art, Peabody Conservatory and the University of Baltimore. He thinks people just starting out will want his 375-square-foot studios, half of which he would rent for about $800 a month and the rest he would sell for $140,000 to $150,000.

The Commission on Aging initially wanted a percentage of the units reserved for seniors -- something Chambers said was impossible. Now the commission is hoping the developer will be willing to reduce the density of the project or at least make the units bigger to appeal to a more mature buyer.

"You've been in a dorm," said John P. Stewart, the commission's executive director. "It's not something I think many older adults will be looking at. It may just be intimidating for seniors to be right in the very middle of that type of development."

Chambers, who is eager to get started on the project, said seniors would be welcome in the building.

"The whole target market we're going for is grad students and young professionals, but that doesn't mean others won't be buying into the project," he said. "In a city environment, you're going to have a mixture of old and young and in-betweeners. That's the city. ... I don't see it as a great concern."

The plan that Chambers and his two European partners have in mind for 1000 Cathedral St. includes retail space on the ground floor of the apartment building and a garage for about 350 cars. The building would be about 14 stories and designed to accommodate Mount Vernon's new height rules.

The Commission on Aging had been trying to raise money for about five years when Chambers floated his proposal. The developer wants the commission to give him the approximately $2 million it has raised for Waxter renovations to contribute to his construction costs.

Stewart said if the donors don't object, the commission has no problem giving Chambers the money. But it doesn't want to give up the cash -- or the deed to its property -- until the new building is in move-in condition.

"We don't want to turn anything over until we get the keys to an up-and-running and operating building," he said. "And I don't know how doable that is from a business perspective. Chambers may want some or all of that money upfront."

Chambers said that to get financing he would need the city to agree to certain terms upfront. And the city would need to work that out.

"We all need to have comfort to move forward," he said.

The deal eventually would need the blessing of the City Council and the city Board of Estimates.

Despite his concerns, Stewart and the commission "strongly support" the deal -- without it, the cash-strapped city would be limited to renovations on the Waxter Center, nothing as exciting as a new building.

The director also thinks the proximity to young people, if managed right, could be an asset.

"That environment may give us an opportunity to build intergenerational programs," he said. "I plan to use this new center as a model to roll out some new innovative programs that will really put us in a position to serve both existing older adults and the baby boomer generation who consider the Waxter Center a dinosaur."

Chambers promises that unlike the old building, the new one will have an open and airy center with gardens, running paths on the roof, a full gym and a cafe where seniors would be able to choose from a menu of healthy options.

"This is about changing the whole dynamic about aging services in the city," he said. "After all of our issues are resolved, I think this is a great opportunity. We will not have an opportunity like this in the next 10 years."

jill.rosen@baltsun.com

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