Former NBA player Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Mayor Martin O'Malley attended the groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday, marking the beginning of construction of the Charles Village Lofts, the sister project to the Johns Hopkins Charles Commons student housing venture.
The Lofts will occupy the 3300 block of St. Paul Street, and a similar set of condominiums will go up across the street at a later date, replacing University Mini-Mart and the former Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Delta Phi fraternity houses.
O'Malley spoke first, lauding the benefits promised by such an expansion. "I can't tell you how pleased I am at everything that's been happening here in Charles Village. It shows just how much heart and soul this community has," O'Malley said.
Charles Village Civic Association President Beth Bullamore expressed her constituents' excitement about the long-awaited project. Bullamore called the project's creators "a group of people with strong beliefs, will and energy to make things happen."
The task is being overseen by Streuver Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., a developer specializing in urban revitalization. Bill Streuver, the company's president and a Baltimore native, spoke of what existing shortcomings he believed the project would address.
"What the community needs is meeting places, be it a bookstore, a bar or whatever," Streuver said. "We need more fun places for a beer or coffee."Streuver described the necessities in getting a project such as the Charles Commons off the ground. "The number one priority is community support. Another thing is having people believe in you. A number of lenders early on showed that they were very interested in what we were doing here."
Streuver said that these conditions were all met. "What kept us going here was the community," Streuver said. He also indicated that the University had been a major influence in the project. "Hopkins was a big help because they showed a lot of commitment," Streuver said.
He said he was further impressed that the school was able to begin work on its Charles Commons more quickly than his contractors could begin the Village Lofts construction.
James McGill, the senior vice president for finance and administration, was also in attendance. McGill spoke on behalf of University President William Brody, who was in California during the ceremony. "As Baltimore's largest employer, we are thrilled with the entrepreneurship of the Canyon-Johnson foundation."
Hopkins Director of Community Affairs Salem Reiner was not present at the ceremony but praised the new development. "The Village Lofts will help to further anchor the later Charles Village projects, which will bring various goods, jobs and services to the community," Reiner said.
Like McGill, Reiner emphasized Hopkins' commitment to its surrounding community. "An area we see as beneficial is the net increase of students out of the residential areas, which will ease student-resident tensions. It is an indicator of Hopkins' investment in the off-campus community surrounding the school," Reiner said.
He said that a problem the administration hoped to fix was unhappy residents kept up by nocturnal students late in the week.
Bobby Turner, the funds manager of Canyon-Johnson, said the project had created 10,000 construction jobs and would provide 2,000 permanent jobs, mostly in retail. Turner described his company's investment strategy as having a "double bottom-line; we want to get a good return for our investors and do good socially."
Financial backing was provided by Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds (a joint venture of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Johnson). Johnson began his conclusion by proclaiming his faith, saying three times, "God is good."
Johnson spoke highly of Streuver's contributions. He said he'd "never met a man so passionate about his community" and pointed out that Streuver had been voted "Best of the Best" by City Paper in their "Best of Baltimore" issue.
Johnson talked about his group's intention to further nation-wide urban development. "We believe in communities, we believe in cities and we believe in urban America."
