A 244-unit apartment complex planned for Canton from WorkShop Development is now in the design stage and could be under construction by the first quarter of 2018.

The eight-story building at 3400 Boston St. will feature market-rate studios, and one- and two-bedroom apartments, WorkShop Development partner Neil Tucker said. Construction should take 22 to 24 months. Amenities will include a fourth floor pool with deck and cabanas, a health club, a recreation room, bike storage and a dog-washing station.

Tucker said LSC Design is reviewing the schematics and expects to have the final renderings for 3400 Boston presented at Baltimore's Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel this summer.

The building's design will incorporate metal, glass, brick and concrete to pay homage to the neighborhood's industrial legacy. The existing site holds a parking lot and Kauffman Electric Co., which will move to make way for the residences, Tucker said. He said it was too early to estimate a cost for the project or provide rental rates for the units.

The apartments are the latest in the wave of new residential in the Canton and Brewers Hill area. Obrecht Commercial Real Estate is plotting a 365-unit luxury apartment complex, dubbed The National, after building 160 apartments at the former Gunther Brewery Co. building.

A former warehouse at 3901 Dillon St. could be the site of a future apartment complex, also led by WorkShop Development, although that project remains in the distant future, partner Dick Manekin said. Manekin will be a speaker at Bisnow's Baltimore State of the Market event March 30.

The new apartment complex at 3400 Boston St. is across the street from The Shops at Canton Crossing, slated to get a Nordstrom Rack in fall 2018. The store will be part of a 90K SF addition at the outdoor mall, whose tenants include Target, Old Navy, Mission BBQ and Iron Rooster. WorkShop is a partner in that development as well, along with Mark Sapperstein and Birchwood Capital Partners.