Orioles Keep Going

O's beat the Nationals again today for their 5th in a row, and an American League best 27 wins. Adams Jones got another dinger (his 15th on the year), and so did Nick Markakis. I don't know about you, but this Orioles team is putting some much needed energy into this city. Here's to keeping the good vibes alive throughout the summer!

Nice Weather Is Here

Hey, so we're actually having a spring in Baltimore this year. The weather has been pleasant, and we've had some decent rain, so everything isn't dried out already. I'm sure all the new trees the city has been planting in the past few weeks enjoy that, seeing has the city rarely waters them, and you cannot expect the property owners too (even though they are supposed to).

With the nice weather, along come the people hitting the streets. The Inner Harbor was packed today with throngs of residents and visitors. By all of the orange and black it appears a lot of people were hanging around waiting for the O's game. There were nearly 27,000 fans at Camden Yards last night, and 32,800 tonight (wow). If the O's keep playing like they have been, Camden Yards will be full all summer long.

Downtown Cluster

Anyone stuck in the downtown gridlock during rush hour? I didn't but it seems extra heavy for a Thursday. So here's the thing. Since the JFX has a lane closed northbound, a lot of drivers have sought to avoid the lower stretch as much as possible. Today, Charles Street around the Monument was shut down to accomodate the set up of the the Flower Mart which starts tomorrow. And with that you get the massive gridlock downtown as people try to find other ways out of town!

If only we had a better transit system!

Monday Recap

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/

Orioles have been playing fantastic baseball. 10-1 win on Saturday, coupled with a 5-2 comeback win yesterday in front of a crowd of 31,793 improve the birds to 14-8. Next stops New York and Boston.

Johns Hopkins Hospital began the move into its two brand new towers yesterday, with the move scheduled to be completed today. The new $1.1 billion project sits on a 5 acre site and includes 560 new rooms. Included is a brand new main entrance on Orleans Street.

Baltimore Fishbowl takes a look at the arts scene and growth in Station North, including the City Arts apartments, expansion of MICA, and the new Baltimore Design School.

Peter Angelos' suit against the Superblock project was tossed out last week. Even with the project agreemend deadlines extended to the end of the year, they city continues to pursue a PILOT for the project, so we could see this happening sooner rather than later.

In more Westside news, The Baltimore Sun last week reported that an apartment building project went to the city for approval. The 14-storey building would sit at the corner of Liberty Street and Park Avenue, and would include 92 apartments. If approved, the project could begin within the next year.

...and we spoke too soon

http://thedailyrecord.com/2012/04/25/baltimore-again-extends-deadline-for-superblock-agreement/

The agreement deadline between Lexington Square Partners LLC and the city on the Superblock has been extended to December 31st. So knowing how the last five years has gone, nothing will happen between now and December, and the chances that another extension will be granted is probably a fair bet.

Could the Superblock Actually Be Moving Forward?

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/blog/real-estate/2012/04/rawlings-blake-introduces-tax-break.html

In other development news, the Mechanic Theatre project could move forward sometime in the next 6 months. Now if only something could happen to the empty lot at 1 Light Street.

2012 Opening Day!

...and

...and the Orioles win 4-2 over the Minnesota Twins! Jake Arrieta gets the win, going 7 innings with 2 hits. Jim Johnson comes in and gets the save. It's April and baseball is back in Baltimore. The O's will be around all summer, so get out to Camden Yards, and participate in the 20th anniversary of our park. We have 161 games left to go, Go O's!

Earth "more than just an" Hour

Earth Hour happened today, between 7:30-8:30pm, when all are encouraged to turn off their lights and power down their energy-using equipment to support awareness of climate change and energy use. This began in 2004, and has grown world-wide and major cities participate by turning off their iconic landmarks, for at least one hour.

So, this got me thinking. Why don't we do this every night? I'm not saying for just one hour, but rather being more conscious of what we have illuminated at night and what really can be turned off. Take for instance some of our landmarks in Baltimore: the domes of City Hall and Johns Hopkins Hospital or the Bromo Seltzer Tower, why are these lit up all night long when most of the city is asleep? Let's not stop with just city landmarks. The city could encourage business leaders and property owners to turn off their illuminations and signs at a given time, especially after the businesses have closed for the evening. How about the 1 South Street or the Bank of America Building turn off the lights at the top of the buildings or Transamerica or Under Armour extinguish their signs at say 10pm? So many places leave all the lights on long after business hours are over, just think how much energy (and money) could be saved by flicking the switches.

For the sake of energy conservation, reducing light pollution, and saving money on electric bills, why don't we just turn the lights off at a certain point in the night? Seems like perfect sense to me. Are we that afraid of the dark or do we just like seeing all of our buildings at all hours of the day/night? Either way, this should be seriously considered.

Property-tax Reduction Plan on the Move

The Daily Record reported that a city council committee approved the Mayor's plan to incrementally reduce city property taxes by $0.20 per $100 of assessed value over the next eight years. This will drop the rate from the current $2.268 to $2.068 by 2020. The reduction is a part of the Mayor's initiative to get 10,000 more families to move into Baltimore over the next decade. To offset the projected loss of revenue, the new casino in the city (which has yet to be built) will contribute most of its revenue to offset this.The plan still needs to be approved by the entire city council

The idea behind lowering the property taxes is to make living in the city more competitive with living in the surrounding counties which currently have a rate more than half that of the city. Even with the reduction to $2.068 in eight years, this would still by nearly twice that of Baltimore County (currently $1.1) Howard County ($1.014) and Anne Arundel ($0.91) See State Dept of Assessment and Taxation

Will this rather small reduction really make a difference? If you're a current property owner, definitely. Any reduction of the property tax rate will be welcomed. However, is this enough to stem the loss of population to the counties, or justify a potential buyer to purchase in the city over the counties. I, for one, am not fully sold.

Sure it makes the city slightly more competitive, but we need to think serious here for a second. I would argue for the rate to drop below the $2-mark, to make it more attractive. There are booming neighborhoods across this city that need that jump start to get more residents. More residents are going to impact the retail market, businesses, and most importantly schools (which every resident will like).

The Mayor needs to stop making the "politically easy" decision here, and take a more comprehensive approach to making it more affordable and attractive to live in Baltimore City. We have a lot to offer, and a whole lot that could use improvement and development.

Good News for the Superblock?

Baltimore Brew is reporting that the superblock project soon might be finally coming to life. The developers have until the end of next month to reach an agreement with the city on the sale of the property and scope of development. Additionally, the legal suit against the project has a good chance of being dismissed, clearing the last hurtle.

The project is expected to add around 300 apartments and 200,000 square feet of retail to Howard St. and Lexington St. Long viewed as a catalyst for change along Howard St, the Superblock will infuse more residents into the westside of downtown. the recent Downtown Partnership report released yesterday details the need for more residential space, especially rentals in downtown. With more life on this stretch of Howard Street, we could finally see a shift in how this corridor will look.