Robin Godwin: Work Begins on ‘Alta Federal Hill’ Apartment Building on Hanover Street

Work is now getting started on Phase I of the Alta Federal Hill project on the 1800 block of S. Hanover St. in South Baltimore. Phase I is a six-story, 267-unit apartment building with a 367-car garage and 1,000 sq. ft. of retail by Wood Partners.

The 1800 and 1900 blocks of S. Hanover St. were acquired by developer Caves Valley Partners (CVP). The properties were previously occupied by Middleton & Meads, which took up the entire 1900 block of S. Hanover St. and a portion of the 1800 block, and a former one-story warehouse that was most recently the home of a hauling company. Middleton & Meads relocated to Carroll-Camden Industrial Area last year.

CVP demolished the former industrial properties in recent months and sold the 1800 block to Wood Partners last month. Wood Partners is planning a Phase II on the 1900 block which will be a six-story, 258-unit apartment building with 370 parking spaces, a garage, and 1,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail. Wood Partners will acquire the 1900 block from CVP before construction begins. Wood Partners said in January that it hopes to begin construction Phase II this year.

Wood Partners is hoping its new Phase I building will help calm down a very “vehicular-centric” S. Hanover St., which is also known as Route 2, a highway that continues south through Annapolis. Wood Partners will line S. Hanover St. with lush plantings, as well as the property’s borders of W. Barney St., a new street that will be created between the 1800 and 1900 blocks of S. Hanover St., and the western edge of the property up against train tracks.

The middle part of the property on the 1800 block of S. Hanover St. will have have a setback that will serve as a courtyard, and will lead into the interior courtyard and amenity spaces of the building. This section of the facade will be a divider between the sections of the building facing north and south, which have different design elements. This setback will also have a second-story deck that engages with S. Hanover St.

The building’s first-floor amenity space will have a gym and a co-working-style atmosphere.

There will be a rooftop amenity space at the northeast corner of the building that looks out towards Downtown. The garage will be wrapped along the new street, but will be exposed facing the train tracks. There will be an 1,000 sq. ft. retail space facing the Phase II building and its retail space.

The facade will be gray and white with a mix of brick and additional materials. It will have walk-up stoops facing the rowhomes on W. Barney St. that resemble the character of Baltimore stoops.

Wood Partners architect on the project is Design Collective.

Executive Managing Partner of Wood Partners Scott Zimmerly told SouthBMore.com last year they were attracted to the site due to its proximity to both Federal Hill and Port Covington. The site is a block from Port Covington, where a 235-acre development is getting underway by the Port Covington Development team.

Phase II will have a vehicular entrance and auto court at E. Wells St. The new private street separating Phase I and Phase II will have new on-street parking spaces.

Steve Rolls of Wood Partners said in January he sees the project as an “anchor for Federal Hill” as it’s the first building in the neighborhood after people leave Port Covington and drive underneath I-95. Wood Partners also sees it as a stitch between the two neighborhoods.

Wood Partners is based in Atlanta and has a regional office in Rockville, MD.

Alta Federal Hill is one of the many new investments on the Wells St. corridor in South Baltimore and Riverside. A five-story, 90,000 sq. ft, 820-unit ExtraSpace Storage facility at 1900 S. Charles St. began construction last week. Construction is expected to start soon at Riverside which converts a former slaughterhouse at 1900 Light St. into a 34,500 sq. ft. office and retail building. Riverside Park’s athletic facilities will begin renovations this year. The owners of 1901 Light St. are also hoping to convert the historic five-story, 138,000 sq. ft. building into 140 apartments.

In recent years along Wells St., apartment building 1901 South Charles was built at the site of a vacant industrial property, apartment and retail building 2 East Wells replaced a warehouse, and ZeroFOX renovated the vacant Pabst Castle into an office building. National Federation of the Blind recently renovated parts of its 355,000 sq. ft. facility and is offering up to 100,000 sq. ft. of its building for lease.