Why is this still undeveloped?

https://i.redd.it/3ds2j40vqqge1.jpeg

created by edevans92 on 02/02/2025 at 15:04 UTC

355 upvotes, 41 top-level comments (showing 25)

This large plot of land (by city standards) off E Baltimore between Washington and Wolfe streets in Butchers Hill has remained untouched for the several years I’ve been in Baltimore. Does anyone know the deal? Can it not be developed or is the owner just sitting on it?

Comments

Comment by ArbonGenre at 02/02/2025 at 15:23 UTC

209 upvotes, 4 direct replies

From what I recall from the last thread about this plot of land, the owner is just sitting on it at this point.

Comment by craig_cignarelli at 02/02/2025 at 15:08 UTC

272 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Fed Hill looks smaller than I remember.

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Comment by DoctorOneT at 02/02/2025 at 15:23 UTC

86 upvotes, 1 direct replies

This has been bought and squatted on since I moved here 10 years ago. Pretty sure it’s just a developer opting not to do anything

Comment by Popsicle55555 at 02/02/2025 at 15:27 UTC

71 upvotes, 2 direct replies

It’s just how it goes in Baltimore. We knocked down the Mechanic like 20 years ago and it’s still a hole at the center of the city.

Comment by -stoner_kebab- at 02/02/2025 at 15:43 UTC

27 upvotes, 1 direct replies

They apparently haven't been able to keep the other building fully rented, so they don't want to build even more apartments. The original plan was to build row houses on this plot of land, but the developer claimed during the Great Recession that it couldn't do this, so the City Council amended the Planned Use Development (PUD) ordinance to allow them to build another apartment building. The land was originally the site of a rundown, garden-style, low income apartment complex. The other part of complex that was supposed to be redeveloped is the parking lot to the north between Fayette and Orleans, which was supposed to be turned into retail. It's always amusing to me that people on this sub regularly complain about the green space but are just fine with the paved parking lot!

Comment by a3ro_crieur at 02/02/2025 at 17:35 UTC

12 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Maybe we don't need to develop everything. At most it could probably become a garden or a park, but there's no need to turn every square inch of the natural environment into buildings because of "real estate potential".

Comment by Unusual-Thanks-2959 at 02/02/2025 at 15:29 UTC

39 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Recent discussion

Comment by BalmyBalmer at 02/02/2025 at 15:40 UTC

5 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Market economics.

Comment by Dear-Ability1860 at 02/02/2025 at 16:01 UTC

4 upvotes, 0 direct replies

i tell people this is a burial mound

Comment by CardiologistSolid663 at 02/02/2025 at 16:34 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Hey man baby Hills can dream of becoming Federal Hill 😭

Comment by ccwb713 at 02/02/2025 at 15:49 UTC

6 upvotes, 1 direct replies

At least it’s green and grassy!

There’s a similar property over on ostend & leadenhall that’s all just torn up parking lot and trash. Would much prefer seeing this everyday!

Comment by Electrical_Draw_1662 at 02/02/2025 at 15:34 UTC

8 upvotes, 2 direct replies

The owner may eventually sell to Johns Hopkins. This is my opinion (not facts). JHH owns a lot of property in East Baltimore. You can search within real property MD database to see who owns it.

Comment by l0ngdistancedrunk at 02/02/2025 at 17:26 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

What would you do with the land? No being facetious, honestly curious.

Comment by aweldo7 at 02/02/2025 at 19:59 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

They tore all of the housing that once stood there out around 2003-2005. I was living around the corner on North Collington. It blows my mind it’s still sitting there undeveloped 20 years later.

Comment by kpoparmy02 at 02/02/2025 at 20:31 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

if they develop this land into a park, i hope they incorporate the hill into it, the skyline views from there is amazing

Comment by ACFrank088 at 02/02/2025 at 15:19 UTC

12 upvotes, 5 direct replies

I've always assumed this is a landfill/trash mound and so there might be environmental concerns.

Comment by dopkick at 02/02/2025 at 16:15 UTC

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

It's a consequence of the rate of improvement/gentrification/whatever in Baltimore happening at a crawl compared to other cities. These kinds of locations are rare to nearly non-existent in cities that have seen vibrant growth over the past 2 decades. Developers aren't seeing a payday and are holding out hope that maybe in the next few years it'll take off.

I went to a wedding in Austin just over a decade ago and got an Airbnb in an area of the city that was not quite run down but definitely in need of some TLC. This was somewhere around South Congress or maybe a bit north closer to the river. Anyways, there were a lot of sites like this in some fashion - a dilapidated house, an empty lot, some janky used car lot, whatever. Poor use of the land. I strolled through last year to go to same (or very similar) Gordough's location in the area. It's a completely different world.

This story is not unique to Austin. It's happening in quite a few cities. Large areas are being redeveloped at a rapid pace. And with that these underutilized sites get turned into something. But that story isn't playing out in Baltimore or when it does it's at a comparative snail's. Why? The Baltimore value proposition is poor and the city just isn't doing much to address it.

The fundamental things that people seem to care about are jobs (#1), schools, and QOL. In /r/baltimore fan fiction, the Red Line is a panacea to all woes and will magically make everything better. Other cities, with a much better track record for progress over the past two decades, tell a much different story, where people are willing to endure lengthy, grueling commutes for well paying jobs. Baltimore doesn't really have too much of that, at least not compared to Austin/DC/etc.

In related /r/baltimore fan fiction, the magical answer to these sites are punitive measures aimed at developers and other boogeymen du jour. I think that could be a minor part of the solution but just that - minor. Baltimore needs to address these fundamental issues and rapidly attract a solid tax base that they can leverage to pay for stuff. I realize that folks on here tend to demonize any sort of development targeting the solidly middle class and above, but the reality of the situation is that is how you get stuff paid for. Someone has to pay for things and attracting higher earners is a solid way. Building a bunch of "affordable"/subsidized housing just isn't going to achieve that impact. But these higher earners want those fundamentals and we often see how when there is success in bringing typically younger people here they often "age out" of the city when they want to start families. Or they just get sick of the lower QOL and want something different. Very, very common stories. If the city can't fix these types of things it's never going to fix the vacant issues.

Comment by A_Damn_Millenial at 02/02/2025 at 16:25 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Wish speculative land ownership in the city like this was disincentivized.

It’d be one thing if it was usable green space, but instead we get an undeveloped lot that isn’t contributing any value to the community.

Comment by Trypanosoma_ at 02/02/2025 at 17:07 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Fun to sled off of when it snows

Comment by Appropriate-Pin-5521 at 02/02/2025 at 20:43 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

make a offer

Comment by Baby-bull-1972 at 02/02/2025 at 19:56 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Sorry, but Ukraine and Israel needed our $$

Comment by Fai1eBashere at 02/02/2025 at 17:03 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I have a dream of buying this whole block and making this my hobbit hole a la lord of the rings

Comment by Present_Ad2973 at 02/02/2025 at 17:16 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I was saying that to my wife last week when we passed it. I was lamenting those cute mid-century town houses they needlessly tore down.