Here’s a look at new housing planned for Baltimore’s first responders

A 62-unit apartment development aimed at offering housing to city police officers and firefighters is expected to break ground late this year downtown.

An agreement between the city and developer Landmark Partners Baltimore for the Guardian House project was approved Wednesday by the Board of Estimates for 17-23 Gay St. The agreement also included a city-owned lot at 10 S. Frederick St. for parking.

“They will be primarily one-bedroom,” said George Watson, a partner with Landmark’s LRP Guardian House LLC, of the project. “The city has been trying to attract more police and firefighters to live here and this is what the community and neighborhood needs.”

The Baltimore Development Corp. selected Landmark after the quasi-city agency sent out a request for proposals for the city-owned properties in 2017.

The bid was one of six submitted for the site located near City Hall and police and fire headquarters and discussed by the BDC’s board in a closed session on April 18, 2018. One of the bids was to convert the buildings into a Choice Hotel and other bids included other multi-family projects.

Landmark’s proposal said about a dozen of the units will be designated as affordable while another focus will be to attract city first responders.

“This creative project meets our objectives for a quality development that will activate ground floor retail and generate tax revenue, while providing additional affordable housing options for families,” said BDC President William H. Cole, in a statement Wednesday.

Landmark’s plans call to convert the buildings into apartments with 6,000 square feet of street-level retail and a small parking lot.

SM+P Architects are working on the designs that will require approval of the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation board, or CHAP, Watson said. The buildings first opened in 1905 and 1912. Landmark is seeking historic tax credits to help fund the project. Landmark is negotiating with the BDC to purchase the properties for $1.24 million.

“The properties have been vacant since the mid-1990s and are in poor condition,” Watson said. “You never know what you are going to find.”

Landmark has other projects underway in the city. The developer recently purchased 1001-1003 N. Charles St. where the Grand Central nightclub and bar is located.