PROJECT 520 Park Avenue + Mount Vernon Marketplace
LOCATION Baltimore, Maryland, US
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE 10/1/2014
ARCHITECT Marks, Thomas Architects
ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT
OWNER/CLIENT The Time Group
CONTRACTOR / CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Kinsley Construction
PHOTOGRAPHER Paul Burke Photography
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM Tom Liebel, Nancy Liebrecht
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
Originally constructed in 1942 and now part of The Market Center National Register Historic District, The Hochschild, Kohn & Co. Service Warehouse is an adaptive use project that has transformed the 216,039 sf site at 520 Park Avenue into a variety of ground-level retail spaces and 171 apartments on the upper floors. This building’s modern transformation incorporates a unique and expansive courtyard into the center of the building. This courtyard allows double-loaded corridors, with half of the residential units overlooking the street and half overlooking the courtyard, creating a sense of community. Amenities include a business center, fitness & yoga center, cyber café and multi-purpose rooms. Federal tax credits. Mt. Vernon Marketplace is located at the ground floor. This furniture showroom has been transformed into a 15,000 sf artisan food hall. This innovative space has garnered significant attention for its wide-ranging food items, special events, modern aesthetics, and its ability to bring the community together. Millennial’s not only prefer renting to buying, but they are driving the “luxury” market as they want to live, work and play in their own metropolitan areas. Demand for downtown living has sent Baltimore’s apartment occupancy rate to 97%. That coupled with Baltimore’s abundance of historic and industrial properties in need of revitalization provide the perfect scenario for developers to not only supply these high demand properties, but to also transform neighborhoods. 520 Park Avenue is a perfect example of neighborhood transformation through the adaptive re-use of the former Hochschild, Kohn & Co. warehouse constructed in 1942. It is part of the National Register Historic District and the renovated building offers 121 luxury apartments as well as retail space slated for an assortment of 15 local artisan vendors creating a neighborhood marketplace. The former warehouse is situated in a vacancy-riddled area of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood and the client saw an opportunity to enliven an area that had become known as a downtown “dead-spot”. The development objective was to create a high energy space that would attract potential residents and retail tenants thus bringing vibrancy to the area. The design concept was to push the boundaries and create a space unique and unlike any other projects in the area. The ultra-modern aesthetic of the lobby infused with color immediately captures the curiosity of street traffic and provides a younger hip image that is appealing to local professionals and students. Since the existing building is part the Historic District, opportunity to alter the façade of the building was limited. The project team addressed this challenge by transforming the building from the inside out. The solution was to cut away the building’s center to create a unique and expansive enclosed inner courtyard. Carving out the building’s center not only provided an outdoor oasis, but also solved the challenge of unit views by creating a double loaded corridor allowing all units to capture great views of either the city street or the private courtyard. In keeping with the building’s historic profile, the interior courtyard’s ‘carved out history’ is expressed by the exposed slab edges and transforming an existing support column into a waterfall feature. Courtyard lighting supports were also installed to mimic the rebar that was stripped away. Differentiation from other area luxury apartments was a major client focus. To meet this requirement, the client wanted to provide amenities that were not offered at other properties. Since the client owns several other rental properties in the same area the collaborative amenity concept is to share amenities between their local properties to all building residents. Example - a resident of 520 Park Avenue can walk down the street and use another property’s facilities such as the rooftop pool a block away. In addition to this, the inner courtyard carved into the building is the first of its kind in Baltimore. Other amenities include a living wall, cyber cafe, multipurpose living & dining areas, business center, fitness & yoga center and dog wash station. Project Square Footage: 216,000 SF Project Budget: $21 Million Date of Occupancy: June 30, 2014 520 Park Avenue is an excellent demonstration of the revitalization of threatened or abandoned historic resources. This market-rate apartment building involves the adaptive use of the former Hochschild, Kohn & Co. warehouse, constructed in 1942, and is listed as a contributing structure in Baltimore’s Market Center National Register Historic District. The renovated building offers 171 apartments along with retail space for an assortment of 15 local artisan vendors creating a marketplace that will help transform the neighborhood by providing a variety of locally-sourced food, drink, and other specialty items. This former warehouse is situated in a vacancy-riddled area of Baltimore’s Westside neighborhood, where the developer recognized an opportunity to enliven an area that had become known as a downtown “dead-spot”. The objective was to bring vibrancy to the neighborhood by creating a high energy space that would attract residents and retail tenants. The design concept was to create a unique space, with the modern aesthetic of the color-infused lobby, juxtaposed with the existing structure, capturing the curiosity of street traffic, and providing an appealing image to prospective renters. Building amenities include a living wall, cyber cafe, multipurpose living & dining areas, a business center, fitness & yoga center, dog wash station, and internal courtyard. To distinguish this project from competing venues, amenities were provided that are not offered at other nearby properties. As the developer owns several other properties in the vicinity, a collaborative concept was generated to share amenities between local properties amongst all residents. Since the existing building contributes to the Historic District, opportunities to alter the façades were limited. The project team addressed this challenge by transforming the building from the inside out. The solution was to cut away the building’s center to create a unique internal courtyard. Carving out the building’s center not only provided an outdoor oasis, but also allowed a double-loaded corridor with great unit views to either the city or the courtyard. The courtyard’s history is expressed through the exposed edges of the demolished concrete slab and transforming a single remaining column into a water feature. In order to preserve and showcase the unique building features the interior was stripped down to the “bones” exposing all the bell-capitaled structural columns and concrete slabs. This approach was used throughout the open amenity areas, unit corridors, and the residential units. In the common areas the concrete decks were painted dark charcoal while the support columns were painted light grey to create contrast between the new walls and the existing structure of the building. Existing terra cotta walls throughout the building interior were painted and left exposed adding to the overall character of the renovation. Additionally a portion of the lobby flooring was left bare exposing the existing concrete that was polished and finished with a dark stain. 520 Park Avenue has also had a profound impact on several larger trends as well. Approximately 2/3 of residents have relocated from outside of the Baltimore region, so rather than cannibalizing from other local properties, the building is helping to increase the city’s population. Furthermore, through a multi-pronged approach involving convenient access to public transportation, university shuttles, and a ZipCar program, parking demand has been significantly reduced below market norms to approximately 0.6 spaces/dwelling unit.
MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF
IMAGE CAPTIONS & CREDITS
IMAGE 1 520 Park Ave_thumbnail.jpg, Entry Lobby, Paul Burke Photography
IMAGE 2 520 Park Ave_high res ext.jpg, Exterior Dusk, Karl Connolly Photography
IMAGE 3 520 Park Ave_high res int.jpg, Mount Vernon Marketplace Oyster Bar, Karl Connolly Photography
IMAGE 4 520 Park Ave_low res ext.jpg, Interior Courtyard, Paul Burke Photography
IMAGE 5 520 Park Ave_low res int.jpg, Multi-Purpose Living and Dining, Paul Burke Photography
IMAGE 6 520 Park Ave_low res int2.jpg, Multi-Purpose Space, Paul Burke Photography
IMAGE 7 520 Park Ave_low res int3.jpg, Living Wall + Cyber Cafe, Paul Burke Photography
IMAGE 8 520 Park Ave_low res int4.jpg, Mount Vernon Marketplace Local Beer and Coffee Stands, Karl Connolly Photography
520 Park Avenue + Mount Vernon Marketplace
Category
Local > AIABaltimore > Architectural Design Awards (AIABaltimore) > Multi-Family / Mixed Use (AIABaltimore)
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