Zahlco Development Working on Baltimore Apartments

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Zahlco Development is keeping busy in Baltimore. According to recent media reports, the Pikesville-based company is getting ready to start work soon on two apartment construction and renovation projects in the city.

Last week, the Baltimore Business Journal reported that Zahlco started demolition work at the corner of Calvert and Read streets, in order to prepare the site for the future Calvert Street Lofts. The project calls for the construction of a 56-unit apartment community at 816-824 N. Calvert St.

In addition to the apartments, Calvert Street Lofts will also incorporate an existing 25-car garage and 10,000 square feet of retail. And Yonah Zahler, the company’s CEO, told the Baltimore Business Journal that he hopes to attract restaurant tenants, as well as a fitness or yoga studio.

Zahlco still needs to receive the building permits before construction can start, but the company hopes to open the new building by summer 2016. Rents at the Calvert Street Lofts will be between $1,200 and $1,800 per month for a one-bedroom units, and between $2,200 and $2,500 for two-bedrooms.

The Baltimore Business Journal also said that Zahlco plans to start work in August on the renovation of the Congress Hotel Apartment building in Mount Vernon. The company recently purchased the historic property at 306 W. Franklin St. for $3 million. Now it plans to invest an additional $1 million to reinvigorate the property, originally built in 1905, and transform it into one of Zahlco’s urban living brands.

The former hotel property, which once served Bob Hope, Al Jolston and the Marx brothers, was converted into a 36-unit apartment complex in 2000. Zahlco’s renovation project will upgrade all the existing apartments. It will also remake the lobby and existing retail space into shared co-op space, and add many new amenities.

Yohan Zahler told the Business Journal that he expects the project to take about two and a half years, as the building is currently 95 percent occupied. Rents at the Congress Hotel Apartments currently range from $800 to $1,000 per month. Once the renovation is finished, they will increase to between $1,000 and $1,300.

Photo credit: www.seto-architects.com