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| Approved Uplands Masterplan as shown on the STV website |
Still, the Uplands (100 acres) is redevelopment on an impressive scale and currently especially eye popping: Everything that used to be there is gone and nothing new is built. Instead, earthmovers, backhoes and bulldozers crawl over the bare soil of an area that reaches as far as they eye can see from Edmondson Avenue. http://www.viewatuplands.com/overview.html.
There is something uplifting in the fact that such a large construction site is active in the middle of this recession and inside the City of Baltimore. Over 1000 dwelling units are planned here, many single family, many home-ownership, some rental and some mixed use along Route 40.
The Uplands, once a proud community of lower income and subsidized rental housing with three story walk up garden apartments built solidly in brick and concrete, had fallen into disrepair and bad management in the early nineties. Soon the neighboring historic communities of Ten Hills, Hunting Ridge and Edmondson Village complained about crime and grime emanating from the Uplands and casting a pall over the entire area. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) finally took all 1000 units back from the management company whose boss was sent to the federal prison in Allenwood Pennsylvania for embezzlement of federal funds. His open roof Mercedes (License plate: "Sunlovr") was taken from him and one after the other 1000 units were vacated and boarded up. Clearly, this neither helped the nearby Edmondson Village Center nor the new Giant supermarket across the street and added a huge eyesore to a city in no needed of additional boarded housing. A murder in front of the remaining liquor store along Edmondson Avenue highlighted the misery further.
Finally, negotiations between Baltimore Housing, begun under Mayor O'Malley, succeeded and in 2004 HUD turned over the land of Uplands areas A and B (52.6 acres) to the City of Baltimore for $20 but with a costly provision: All buildings had to be demolished in continuation of the curious belief that badly managed and crime ridden public housing has to be razed for a better future. As if the brick and mortar themselves were the culprits of past failures. This may have been somewhat plausible in the case of the drug infested public housing highrises that had a choke-hold on downtown's east and west sides, but it seemed superstitious for these nice hilly and tree studded streets of the Uplands with its innocent but solid looking low housing stock. In fact, back in 1996/97ArchPlan once investigated options for upgrading these 1948 apartments to modern standards and found possibilities of vertical and horizontal connections to make larger units. The old units were heated by block plants via steam that was piped around, i.e. district heating, certainly a green solution, yet, it didn't include air conditioning.
But rehab wasn't on the table any more once the really big plans took shape in true urban renewal fashion. Still in 2004, the renowned Boston architecture and planning firm of Goody Clancy was tasked with creating a masterplan that would find community acceptance and still make good use of this piece of land right next to the planned Red Line transit line. The result is, in fact, de-densification of an already low density development if one takes into consideration that the 1100 new dwelling units actually happen on a larger site. The redevelopment area grew through a side deal with the New Psalmist Church, who occupied a good chunk of land in the lower part of the area which had always caused traffic and parking problems. New Psalmist moved to the City's languishing Seaton Business Park, and alas, the new Uplands would yet again have 1000 housing units in spite of all the new single family homes. As recommended by the AIA Urban Design Committee in talks with Baltimore Housing, the marginal businesses along US 40 (the liquor store, a gas station and a few other buildings) were condemned (a court battled ensued in which the city won) and also included in the new plan as well as some of the vast parking areas next to theWestern Skill Center, a public school vis a vis from the Edmondson Shopping Center. This allowed the new development to grow even further to have a face on US 40 and also allowed some of the much needed density right next to the planned Red Line station.
Looking today across the freshly turned soil, one can see what "big plan" means: Not a single street, not a single tree and no building has been left standing. All utilities, all grading, all roadways, everything brand-new and in a new configuration. Years after the Goody Glancy plan had been adopted, a master development team was selected consisting of Pennrose and Bozzuto, Uplands Visionaries, Cryor Development L.L.C., Harrison Development L.L.C., Scientia Uplands L.L.C., and the Southwest Baltimore Community Development Corp.
It is hard to see how this is contextual or context sensitive design or how this would comply with green site design standards under LEED, yet this is what it is, and in a strange way, it is deliberating, refreshing and so very full of promise.
Judgment on the architecture and buildings needs to be withheld until the replacement structures of the now approved phase 1 (761units) will come out of the ground with all the compromises and cheap materials (vinyl siding) that modern builders typically use. Likely the "stick-built" wood framed structures will neither match up to the solid brick walls and concrete floors of the past Upland buildings nor to the modern often well designed creations in Stapleton in which stylistic experiments pair up with surprising artefacts from the airport's past.
All compromises and delays notwithstanding, the new Uplands is a beacon of hope for Baltimore, a huge shot in the arm for the west side of the City and offers to a large extent what Baltimore needs: New urban housing that is not all rowhouses, that is rich with amenities and has good access to transit.
see also:
http://www.multihousingnews.com/news/238m-mixed-use-residential-project-takes-a-big-step-forward-in-baltimore/
http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2011/07/15/uplands-wins-approval-for-development-plan-phase-i-funding/
http://www.baltimorehousing.org/wgo_detail.aspx?id=412
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| Above: Standard fair: The retro design of new-urbanist builders Below: Partial view of the Uplands development near Old Frederick Road when buildings were boarded |
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Same view after demolition. The initially saved trees are gone now as well
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