Somerset Development Company, LLC, in partnership with New Community Partners, LLC and the nonprofit Memorial Apartments Corporation (MAC), has completed construction of The Jordan, a new 62-unit market-rate apartment building with The Tilted Row, a neighborhood gastro pub, on the ground floor.

The Jordan is the second phase of redevelopment of the original 3.6 acre site of Memorial Apartments located in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. The original site was subdivided to provide, in the first phase, for the $26 million renovation and preservation of 266 affordable units at Memorial Apartments — now renamed Linden Park Apartments -- and to build market rate apartments to create a new mixed- income community.  The redevelopment of the site as a mixed-use, mixed-income community fulfills the neighborhood vision established in the HUD Choice Neighborhood Plan and fills in a "missing tooth" of the urban fabric on Eutaw Place and McMechen Streets. The project was financed with an FHA 221(d)(4) loan through Wells Fargo Bank's lending division. Key to the project's feasibility is Baltimore City's High Performance Tax Credit for buildings of 50 units or more that achieve energy efficiency standards.

Strong support from the neighborhood and the City of Baltimore were key to facilitating the City zoning and approvals processes. The apartment building was designed by Moseley Architects and was built by Kinsley Construction. The community will have amenities such as a fitness center, a roof-top terrace and community space, bike storage, a dog park, gardens, and, on the ground floor, the Tilted Row, which will be operated by the owners of Café Filí in Mount Vernon. The building will be certified under National Green Building Standards and Energy Star Homes. The Jordan will re-establish the intersection of Eutaw Place and McMechen Street, replacing what was a run-down surface parking lot with a beautifully designed apartment building, which fits the scale and character of the neighborhood. With convenient access all of Baltimore's anchor intuitions and easy access to downtown, the Jordan is in an ideal location for students, administrators, young professionals, and empty nesters.

Next door to the The Jordan on Eutaw Place, Somerset and MAC are partnering again to redevelop the former Union Hall (formerly owned by Empowerment Temple) with the goal of transforming the building into a Community Arts, Education and Job Training Center.  The commercial kitchen and theater spaces in the building will be renovated and will be the locus of culinary arts training and local theater groups.  A number of non-profits working in the arts, education and community development areas have sent the development team letters of interest to locate in the space, where communities from West Central Baltimore and Bolton Hill can come together.  Taken together, the renovation and preservation of affordability for seniors at Linden Park Apartments, the new construction 62 units of market rate housing at The Jordan, and the redevelopment of the Union Hall will be a major contribution to the shared goal of a vibrant, mixed-income community.

May 30, 2019

Location: The Jordan Apartments, 303 McMechen St, Baltimore, MD 21217

Speakers: Nancy Hooff, Co-Founding Principal, Somerset Development Company

Time:

Registration - 5:30-6:00PM

Presentation/Tours: 6:00-6:45pm

Cocktails/Networking: 6:45pm-8:00pm

Cocktail location: The Tilted Row

Parking: Street Parking