Somerset Development Co is proposing a 62-unit, market-rate apartment building in Bolton Hill on the site of an affordable senior housing complex whose renovation wrapped up this month. The area is close to two growing universities whose staffs are expected to lease apartments in the building.
Somerset has teamed up with nonprofit Memorial Apartments Corp, which has an ownership stake in the deal, to bring the studios, one- and two-bedrooms to 1517 Eutaw Place. The Flats at Eutaw Place has secured zoning approval and the OK from the city’s commission for historical and architectural preservation, but needs financing to begin construction next spring, say Somerset principals Nancy Hooff and Jim Campbell.
They likened the apartments to other high-end complexes in the area, including Somerset's Professional Arts Building and Bozzuto’s The Fitzgerald. Amenities would include a business center, fitness center, terrace, community room and bike storage. The developer would also lease 1,500 square feet to a café.
The University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute College of Art, located nearby, have been growing their enrollments and gobbling up more space in the area.
“Hopefully it will be useful for UB, MICA staff and people in Bolton Hill who are downsizing,” Jim says.
The Flats at Eutaw would be on the site of a parking lot for Linden Park Apartments, a 266-unit affordable senior housing complex that Somerset and Memorial Apartments Corp recently renovated.
Formerly known as Memorial Apartments, the site’s renovation included new heating and air conditioning, apartment interiors, kitchens, baths and elevators. The renovation took place while seniors remained in the building. A hair salon, a fitness center, a game room and a lobby on each floor are some of the amenities that have been added to the building.
Financing for the $26M renovation came from low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, FHA loans and other gap financing. Adding the market-rate apartments would make it a true mixed-income development, the principals say.
“It's an exciting project and one that can serve as a model for mixed-income communities,” Nancy says.
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