Developer of Recreation Pier in Fells Point, Maryland
Gets Historic Tax Credits
September 30, 2005
Historic Photo
BALTIMORE, MD- Among the commercial tax credits awarded this year by Gov. Robert Ehrlich last month, developer J.J. Clarke Enterprises has been authorized to develop a boutique hotel at Recreation Pier, a historic site in Fells Point. Historic tax credits will partially fund the multi-million-dollar project slated to be complete in 2008.
J.J. Clarke Enterprises has selected Peter Fillat Architects, a Baltimore-based firm that has extensive experience with historic tax credit projects, to redesign the historic pier. In dire need of renovation, the pier will be renovated to its former grandeur as a 145-room hotel with 7,000 SF of ballroom and meeting space, a full-service restaurant and bar.
PFA will restore a considerable amount of historic detail in the main building-the centerpiece will be the grand ballroom that overlooks Thames Street to the north. The pier itself will be reconstructed and prepared for the insertion of boutique hotel rooms above the former shed building's structure, which currently occupies the pier. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants will operate the hotel as well as manage a restaurant that will be open to the public. The hotel will serve the many visitors to the waterfront of Baltimore's beautiful Inner Harbor and historic Fells Point neighborhood.
Historic tax credit programs were created in Maryland and Baltimore to encourage developers to renovate and improve older buildings that have historical significance. Often, these buildings are becoming increasingly dilapidated with time. Among PFA's other historic tax credit projects are the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis, MO; Ridgely Commons on Washington Blvd. in Baltimore, MD; and The Revels on Madison Street in Baltimore, MD.