Cross Street Partners has signed several new leases and secured $11.7M in financing for the redevelopment of a former manufacturing site in Southwest Baltimore. The real estate company held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the historic Lion Brothers Building, which will finish construction in December.

About two-thirds of the 38k SF, three-story office building at 875 Hollins St is leased. Enterprise Homes, Baltimore Community Lending, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County Intermedia and Digital Arts graduate program are among the anchor tenants. Cross Street, co-founded by Bill Struever, will also take space in the building.

The redevelopment will preserve the building’s historic character, which dates to the late 1800s, with factory windows, exposed brick and an open layout. Adjacent to the University of Maryland BioPark, the building was home to the Lion Brothers Co, which made clothing and embroidered emblems, starting in 1899.

Financing for the project came from federal new market tax credits, state and federal historic tax credits, a state loan and debt.