CALC project advances
Turner gets six acres from aquarium

By Steven Overly

8.08.2007

Daily Record Business Writer

The city's Board of Estimates relinquished restrictions on more than six acres of land along the north shore of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River Wednesday, paving the way for its sale to a developer who plans to build offices at the site.

The swath of land is part of about 20 acres where the National Aquarium in Baltimore intends to construct the Center for Aquatic Life and Conservation, a $40 million project slated to include research facilities, classrooms, an animal care center and park.

Baltimore's fleet maintenance facility, where city-owned vehicles are stored and maintained, is located on the waterfront property, but will be relocated to East Biddle Street. The $8.225 million cost of constructing a new garage there was recouped in Wednesday's sale agreement.

Developer Patrick Turner bought the Middle Branch property, further expanding his stronghold on development in South Baltimore. Turner is also developing a 54-acre plot of land along the Middle Branch called Westport and other properties in the region.

He did not return calls for comment.

Turner will likely construct commercial buildings at the site, said Michael Pokorny, a senior economic development officer at the Baltimore Development Corp., the city's economic development arm, because a $5 million grant from Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development mandates that redevelopment of the site generate jobs.

"That's generally taken to mean office space," Pokorny said.

He added that some residential properties may be built as well, but the city reserves the right to reacquire the property should Turner not "perform as expected."

Molly Foyle, an aquarium spokeswoman, said selling the land allowed the center's construction to continue because it provided the money for the relocation of the fleet maintenance facility.

"It's the sort of thing that just syncs up nicely," she said.

The aquarium will keep the site's remaining acreage, but a large portion of that is marshes and other wetlands that cannot be developed.

Kim McCalla, the aquarium's senior director of capital planning, could not provide exact numbers on how many acres the center will occupy. She said the master site plan is still being developed and more detailed plans will come after that.

The center will be built in four phases, the first of which calls for the construction of a facility where non-exhibit animals will live and animal rescue programs will be housed, Foyle said. That phase should be complete by 2013, when the lease at the Fells Point facility currently used for off-exhibit animals expires.

Foyle said she expects educational facilities, like classrooms, will be built in the second phase. A park that features a hiker-biker trail and fishing pier will follow.

Though the process has moved at a seemingly "glacial" speed, Foyle said progress is being made, it's just a matter of going through time-consuming procedures and waiting for other projects — such as the East Biddle Street garage — to finish.

"There's all these domino things that go on," Foyle said. "I think that's typical."