Old store on city's west side gets new tenants, technology

The Baltimore Sun

The old Stewart's department store downtown never contained a chapel for weekday Mass. Or a meditation space for Muslims. Or an upper-level "situation room" to cope with tsunamis and other disasters.

Those are just a few of the additions made to the structure built in 1899, which reopens today after a $42.7 million conversion to become the new world headquarters of Catholic Relief Services, the international relief and development agency of the U. S. Roman Catholic community.

The move ends nearly three decades of uncertainty about the fate of the Stewart's building, once one of the jewels of a bustling shopping district that drew thousands to the west side of downtown Baltimore. The nine-story building at 228 W. Lexington St. closed in 1979 and had been largely unoccupied until this week.

"It'll be another showcase for the west side" of downtown, said Ronald M. Kreitner, executive director of WestSide Renaissance Inc., an organization that promotes redevelopment of Baltimore's traditional retail district. "They've created a very attractive environment. They're making a great contribution to realizing the potential of downtown."

The reopening of the Stewart's building represents an economic boost for downtown's west side by adding 345 employees to the heart of an area that city leaders are aiming to transform into a vibrant neighborhood combining housing, shops, offices and entertainment spots.

The move also provides a substantially larger home for the relief agency, which was founded in New York City in 1943 as War Relief Services, renamed Catholic Relief Services in 1955, and moved to Baltimore in 1989. It works only outside the United States, and its recent recovery efforts have aided people in Angola, Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan, Ghana and areas devastated by the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia.

"It's a great opportunity for us," said Ken Hackett, president of the organization, which has 5,000 employees. "We're trying to be a model for others."

Catholic Relief Service's Baltimore-based employees previously occupied a former straw-hat factory at 209 W. Fayette St. and an annex on Redwood Street. Though Catholic Relief was based on the fringe of the west side, employees weren't as likely to patronize the shops and restaurants there as they're expected to now that they're in the center of the renewal area.

Built as an emporium for the Posner department store family and acquired and renamed by retailer Louis Stewart by 1904, the Stewart's department store was one of Baltimore's busiest retailers for much of the 20th century.

The building is one of four major department stores that stood near Howard and Lexington streets when that intersection was the crossroads of Baltimore's traditional retail district, which had its heyday from the late 1800s to the 1960s. Thousands of people came by streetcar and bus to shop and dine downtown, and they stayed to see performances at the many theaters.

It was the Baltimore equivalent of New York's 34th Street before the automobile, the suburban shopping mall and television forever changed shopping and entertainment patterns. The area was especially busy at Christmas time, when shoppers came to see how merchants decorated their display windows.

The Stewart's building is the last of the four major department stores at Howard and Lexington streets to be renovated or replaced with a new structure, after Hutzler's, Hecht's and Hochschild-Kohn. It was acquired in 1979 by Harry Weinberg, an investor who stockpiled dozens of buildings in Baltimore's old retail district - an act that was seen by some civic leaders as an impediment to the area's rejuvenation, especially during William Donald Schaefer's tenure as mayor. Weinberg died in 1990 with a real estate portfolio worth more than $900 million.

The charitable trust that he established in 1959, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, is the owner of the Stewart's building and is the landlord of Catholic Relief Services. Design Collective was the architect, and Turner Construction was the construction manager for the office conversion.

While the white brick exterior has been substantially restored to its original appearance, the interior has been rebuilt as a high-tech office setting, with flat-screen monitors on every level replacing the store directories that reminded shoppers what level they were on.

One of the few remnants of the building's mercantile past is a metal railing salvaged from the mezzanine level and installed in the chapel that will be used for religious services three times a week.

Lou Ghitman, director of interior architecture for Design Collective, said the offices were divided into a series of "neighborhoods" and "avenues" that make it easy to get around.

One of the biggest design moves was to carve out a four-story, glass-covered atrium to bring light into the building's center, on levels three to six. By using an open stairway in the atrium rather than an elevator, staffers will have a chance to bump into colleagues from different departments whom they might not otherwise see. The atrium also makes a contemporary statement on the interior, in contrast to the restored exterior facades.

Other features include: a basement level gym, with an aerobics room and bike storage area; a "situation room," where employees from different divisions can map out strategies for addressing a natural disaster or other emergency; a casual dining area for all employees; a formal dining room for executives and visiting dignitaries; more than 30 meeting rooms and "breakout" areas; and a separate space near the chapel where non-Christians can worship or meditate.

Catholic Relief Services considered several other locations, including a site in Catonsville and space adjacent to the Hilton hotel now rising next to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, before opting to move to Lexington Street.

In July 2005, the organization reached an agreement to lease approximately 164,000 square feet on the upper levels of the Stewart's building for 30 years from the Weinberg Foundation, which had already renovated the shell. Weinberg retained control of the first floor and is marketing it as retail space.

Hackett said his organization liked the idea of staying in the city and moving to an older building recycled in an environmentally friendly way, at the heart of the west-side renewal area. He said he was impressed by the building's large floors and high ceilings and the chance to create an environment that fostered better communication between employees.

"We've gotten so big that we have to pay extra attention to the way we communicate as an organization," Hackett said. "This building is intended to ... maximize the chances for people to talk to each other and take more of a team approach to problem solving."

It's "a new beginning" for Catholic Relief Services, said Mike Gesker, a staff writer and editor.

"Many people have fond memories of Stewart's and the other downtown department stores. ... I'm glad we're reusing this building. I hope we can set an example for others."

ed.gunts@baltsun.com

What became of the other department store buildings?

Hochschild Kohn & Co.: destroyed by fire in 1983 and replaced by the One Market Center office building.

Hutzler's and the Hutzler Palace Building: Converted to offices for public agencies and others.

Hecht's: Converted by Southern Management Co. to a 173-unit apartment complex called the Atrium.

Brager-Gutman's and Epstein's: Both are being eyed for redevelopment as part of the revitalization of downtown's west side.

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