From its perch on the Patapsco River, Baltimore’s popular Fells Point neighborhood draws shoppers and revelers who wander its cobbled streets, ogle its historic townhomes, and warm its microbrewery barstools. The past is big here, but from a development standpoint, it’s also in short supply. The obvious properties have been snapped up, the old warehouses already converted. What’s a history buff to do? Back in 2009, as the city was climbing out of recession, the developer Bozzuto Group acquired a waterfront parking lot with enviable views. All traces of its industrial past (shipbuilding around the turn of the last century, a cannery, and, later, a cement plant) had disappeared two decades earlier, when the last structure standing—the plant—was bulldozed. Bozzuto didn’t want that heritage to go unrecognized, so the company tapped the architects at Hord Coplan Macht to design a new apartment building that would channel the spirit of the site. Clad in brick and standing five stories tall, the 281-unit Union Wharf complex picks up on the waterfront district’s industrial character. The palette, which also includes steel, concrete, and a generous dose of wood, has all the trappings of a well-executed ...
From its perch on the Patapsco River, Baltimore’s popular Fells Point neighborhood draws shoppers and revelers who wander its cobbled streets, ogle its historic townhomes, and warm its microbrewery barstools. The past is big here, but from a development standpoint, it’s also in short supply. The obvious properties have been snapped up, the old warehouses already converted. What’s a history buff to do? Back in 2009, as the city was climbing out of recession, the developer Bozzuto Group acquired a waterfront parking lot with enviable views. All traces of its industrial past (shipbuilding around the turn of the last century, a cannery, and, later, a cement plant) had disappeared two decades earlier, when the last structure standing—the plant—was bulldozed. Bozzuto didn’t want that heritage to go unrecognized, so the company tapped the architects at Hord Coplan Macht to design a new apartment building that would channel the spirit of the site. Clad in brick and standing five stories tall, the 281-unit Union Wharf complex picks up on the waterfront district’s industrial character. The palette, which also includes steel, concrete, and a generous dose of wood, has all the trappings of a well-executed ...