Thibault Manekin is a Person to Watch
January 4, 2013. It's with a modicum of modesty that Seawall's Thibault Manekin has become a person of interest, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. He is leading the company in building affordable houses for teachers, as evidenced on the 2800 block of Remington Avenue. Formerly owned by the City and in deplorable shape, Seawall has turned squalor into profit. The newly renovated buildings are priced to sell to educators. With Baltimore City tax exemptions and first-time buyer incentives, the $100,000 price tag isn't outrageous as it seems to us natives.
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| Renovation of Houses on Remington Avenue |
Thibault is very enthusiastic about his vision of
Seawall's development for the Remington Neighborhood. However, this transformation may be hiding a few caveats. I overheard a Greater Homewood Community member urging a couple to invest, as they could resell the house around "in five years" for a decent profit. So the renovated houses are more of a magnet to generate interest in the (re)gentrification of our community and less of an incentive for people to establish roots here.
At a community meeting, I asked Thibault if Seawall had plans for developing the unsightly Anderson Body Shop these houses are facing. He stated that the company had no plans, which I found highly suspicious. I guess the neighborhood will wait and see. Thibault is definitely a person to watch.
Source: Baltimore Business Journal, Jan 4, 2013. https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/print-edition/2013/01/04/people-to-watch-thibault-manekin.html
Zoning Appeal Loses in Court
January 23, 2013. Once again, the contentious Walmart project has been green-lighted by people from outside our 'hood. I am one of the anti-Walmart contingent because I order online and have my stuff delivered. I understand, however, how the project would appeal to neighbors who are bereft of the internet and feel burdened by the trip to a store outside our area. Regardless, the Appeals Court has allowed the redevelopment of the 11-acre tract and can now move ahead now on a plan that has been held up for years.
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| Jon Laria |
"The project would have been done, generating benefits for the community and taxes for the city if these petitions had not been filed," said Jon Laria, the attorney for the developer of the mixed-use project, called 25th Street Station. I worked with this man and let me tell you, he probably had never heard of Remington before his appointment as counsel.
What's really bothersome is the Maryland Court of Appeals declaring that the two people who live near the development site, one in Remington and the other in Charles Village, are not eligible to appeal because "they do not live close enough" to the tract and hence cannot file an appeal. What idiocy.
Benn Ray, a Remingtonian (who owns and operates Atomic Books in Hampden), and Brendan Coyne of Charles Village, both live about four-tenths of a mile from the development site. They alleged that the project "would have a negative effect on the neighborhood, depress local wages, and make the streets more dangerous because of increased traffic flow".
For various reasons, the Court decided their argument had no merit, but their attorney, G. Macy Nelson, said he expects people in the neighborhoods surrounding the site to continue to oppose its redevelopment.
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Anderson Lot
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Anderson Automotive Group now occupies most of the land. The original proposal included the Walmart, a Lowe's Home Improvement store, more than 100,000 square feet of other retail, 70 to 90 residences, and nearly 1,100 parking spaces.
It almost immediately received a mixed reception from residents. An online petition drive called "No Walmart in Remington" was created in February 2010. But representatives from the three neighborhoods containing or adjacent to the parcel -- Remington, Charles Village, and Old Goucher -- also began meeting with the developers on traffic issues.
Lowe's dropped out of the project in 2011, so Walmart is the only tenant still committed to 25th Street Station. But the developer has a lot of interest from retailers, Laria said. Zoning legislation for 25th Street Station passed the council in late 2010. The appeal of the legislation has been turned down at every level of the state's judiciary.
Now that the Court of Appeals has decided, the developer will work on getting permits from the city and purchasing the land from its current owners, Laria said.
"You can't finance the acquisition and development until litigation is resolved," he said.
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Mt. Vernon Mill No. 1
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January 23, 2013. Mt. Vernon Mill No. 1 project is blossoming as workers have installed a footbridge over the falls, connecting the mill to the westside.
