New plans for Olmsted revealed
Although Charles Village has been undergoing a revitalization in recent years, there has been a glaring hole in the growth: 1.12 acres of empty, barren land in the middle of a thriving community.
This space is supposed to house a towering building, with space for retail, offices, housing and much needed parking, but the plans for the Olmsted, a project of Struever Bros. Eccles & rouse (SBER), has gone through a series of design changes. The most recent revision, approved by the Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel (UDARP) on Sept. 27, proposed to add 24 feet in height to the previous building plan in order to provide more room for retail and office space.
The Olmsted was also originally slated to include a smaller number of condominiums that would be offered for sale to individual buyers, but slow sales of the SBER owned Village Lofts prompted the company to change their plans. The Olmsted will now house 217 apartments purely for rent.
"There is a general drag in the housing market and the condominium market has slowed down even more. It doesn't make sense to build another structure of condominiums, so we studied alternative plans," said Tim Pula, senior development director of SBER.
"The current 217 apartments will be divided in two: 70 percent will be market-rate and 30 percent will be work-force housing. This work-force portion is geared specifically to nurses, teachers and possible graduate students and post-doctoral students. We don't envision the building serving the undergraduate population. There will be a full-time job requirement in addition to an income requirement," Pula said.
According to Paula Burger, dean of Undergraduate Education and vice provost of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the University had hoped that the Olmsted would "attract owner occupied units as a means of bringing further stability to the Charles Village neighborhood."
"We certainly understand that the real estate market has changed significantly," she said. "And share disappointment that the original model is threatened by current external market forces. On the other hand, the project under consideration should be standing for 80-100 years, and it would be most unfortunate not to see this as a long-term consideration."
This space is supposed to house a towering building, with space for retail, offices, housing and much needed parking, but the plans for the Olmsted, a project of Struever Bros. Eccles & rouse (SBER), has gone through a series of design changes. The most recent revision, approved by the Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel (UDARP) on Sept. 27, proposed to add 24 feet in height to the previous building plan in order to provide more room for retail and office space.
The Olmsted was also originally slated to include a smaller number of condominiums that would be offered for sale to individual buyers, but slow sales of the SBER owned Village Lofts prompted the company to change their plans. The Olmsted will now house 217 apartments purely for rent.
"There is a general drag in the housing market and the condominium market has slowed down even more. It doesn't make sense to build another structure of condominiums, so we studied alternative plans," said Tim Pula, senior development director of SBER.
"The current 217 apartments will be divided in two: 70 percent will be market-rate and 30 percent will be work-force housing. This work-force portion is geared specifically to nurses, teachers and possible graduate students and post-doctoral students. We don't envision the building serving the undergraduate population. There will be a full-time job requirement in addition to an income requirement," Pula said.
According to Paula Burger, dean of Undergraduate Education and vice provost of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the University had hoped that the Olmsted would "attract owner occupied units as a means of bringing further stability to the Charles Village neighborhood."
"We certainly understand that the real estate market has changed significantly," she said. "And share disappointment that the original model is threatened by current external market forces. On the other hand, the project under consideration should be standing for 80-100 years, and it would be most unfortunate not to see this as a long-term consideration."
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