MidAtlantic City Scoop: Construction Starts in Baltimore
Total Construction Spending on Pace to Slide by More Than 7% This Year
The Baltimore Penn Station redevelopment project will include 1.6 million sq ft of retail, residential and office space.
RENDERING BY GENSLER ARCHITECTS, COURTESY OF PENN STATION PARTNERS
City Grill
Bob Farley
President
CMAA Baltimore
And Construction Service Manager for Maryland and Delaware
WSP USA
Two projects in Baltimore will serve as gateways to the city, says Farley. The Penn Station redevelopment could result in up to 1.6 million sq ft of retail, residential and office space in a five-acre area near the city’s Amtrak and commuter rail station. The project is slated for completion in 2024. In South Baltimore, sports apparel maker Under Armour is planning a massive mixed-use development in the Port Covington section. “It really kind of bookends the city with both projects,” Farley says.
He says city officials aren’t just focused on high-profile projects and towers in what he calls a historically “working-class city.” Farley points to projects such as the ongoing $115-million Enoch Pratt Free Library renovation and a plan to rebuild the 630-unit Perkins Homes, a large public housing development in East Baltimore. The Maryland Transit Administration completed the $135-million BaltimoreLink project last year to reroute the area’s bus network, which helps many blue-collar workers commute to jobs. “We are proud … that it’s an inclusive program,” Farley says, “and not just looking at gentrification, but really just looking at benefiting all the strata in Baltimore.”
Firm in Focus
Cianbro Corp.
605 Pittman Rd., Baltimore
Founded: 1949
Good Draw: The Pittsfield, Maine-based firm has had a presence in the Baltimore area for approximately 25 years. Currently, the open-shop, employee-owned construction and construction services firm is working on the Curtis Creek Drawbridge preservation project, which calls for complete mechanical and electrical rehabilitation and retrofit of bridges on the Baltimore Beltway’s inner and outer loops. Cianbro is also replacing the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel’s ventilation fans. The scope includes removing and replacing 32 tunnel fans for the I-895 tunnel. At the Brighton Dam in Brookeville, Md., Cianbro is performing spillway concrete demolition and new concrete overlay and tainter gate repairs.
Cianbro employs about 4,000 workers in more than 40 states. The Baltimore office performs work in the infrastructure, industrial and manufacturing, power and energy, oil, gas, chemical and buildings sectors. Cianbro manages and self-performs civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, fabrication and coating work.
