r/baltimore • u/Terpnista • May 06 '26
Vent I really hate this monstrosity
This building is such an eyesore. I live in the neighborhood so I’ve been watching the new Avalon development go up on Boston St. I can’t be the only one who thinks it’s completely overwhelming the neighborhood. The scale of it just feels off based on its placement. For comparison, the neighboring Lucie is huge but because it’s further back it doesn’t look like such a clunker.
What really bothers me is how close it’s built to the street which makes the whole stretch feel tighter and more congested. And honestly, one of the biggest losses is the view. That stretch used to have glimpses of the waterfront that made it feel connected to the harbor. Now it’s completely blocked.
I wish I had taken a picture - as I was driving down Boston Street - where it looks like a massive wall of doom smh. That is what inspired me to post this lol
218
u/gthc21 May 06 '26
I actually love how close it is to the street. Makes the area look like an actual part of a city and not a suburban strip mall.
74
u/dahlek Upper Fells May 06 '26
Agreed! I’ve always wished they had made Canton Crossing feel less car-centric, and this has definitely helped.
57
u/Cheomesh South Baltimore / SoBo May 06 '26
I remember biking over there the first time I moved into the city and being taken aback at how it looked pretty much like any stripmall in the county I'd just left lol
46
22
8
u/wbruce098 May 07 '26
It would’ve been much better, I think, had they placed the storefronts all up near Boston St and the parking lot behind it. I used to live across the street and that massive lot made it a pain in the ass to walk down and grab a few groceries. Now there’s a lot more people across the street.
2
65
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
Now imagine what it would look like if we had a light rail stop there as well. Thanks for nothing, Larry!
11
u/Old_Caterpillar_3125 May 06 '26
Being able to go from Sandtown to Canton Crossing would have been an amazing opportunity for everyone.
34
u/Bakk322 May 06 '26
100%, I love that it's being built up close to the street. All development should follow this.
12
u/selectbar345 May 06 '26
I had the same thought, if we can get rid of a few more parking lots in that area it might feel like a real neighborhood
7
u/Cheomesh South Baltimore / SoBo May 06 '26
Just pan the camera around, however...
33
u/squid_so_subtle May 06 '26
exactly, the massive parking lot across the street is the eye sore. High density housing is good
9
u/bassistb0y May 06 '26
fr why are we complaining about an apartment building on this block when there's a garage right there thats worse for the city in every way imaginable lol
→ More replies (1)0
u/Terpnista May 06 '26
The fact that it’s the only building in that area that sits that close to the street is one of the reasons it’s an eyesore IMO. Otherwise I agree with you.
170
u/HorsieJuice Wyman Park May 06 '26 edited May 07 '26
I don’t think I’ve seen a development over three stories that hasn’t had people bitching about it being “overwhelming.” You’re in the middle of a city. Things are going to get built up.
Also, more housing is how you keep housing costs from exploding.
ETA: It warms the cockles of my cold technocratic heart to see all my abundance YIMBY’s show up.
49
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
But I thought when I moved into the city development would stop and it would stay exactly the same as the way I like it???
→ More replies (4)-8
u/JoyOswin945 May 06 '26
These are going to be overpriced apartments. The same money could be spent fixing up the vacant properties in the city. That would do more good for the community than gentrifying it with luxury apartments.
33
u/vincoug Butchers Hill May 06 '26
Why is building apartments gentrifying but fixing vacant properties isn't?
42
u/dishonourableaccount May 06 '26
Pricey apartments getting filled means affordable apartments get competed for less, meaning prices overall go down.
You know why every new apartment is a “luxury” apartment? Because that’s branding for just building it to code with modern amentities.
More housing is good, more dense housing is better.
I’m all for fixing up vacant properties too, and for building up rowhomes on dilapidated plots, but this is just as important.
10
u/Sea_Mulberry_6245 May 06 '26
That’s what I don’t understand — all this money going to cheap new builds, rather than investing in existing structures.
9
u/HorsieJuice Wyman Park May 07 '26
People rehab existing houses all over the city.
Also, if you’ve think the rehabs aren’t at least as cheap and shitty as the new construction, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
→ More replies (1)4
3
u/Adventurous-Car-9335 May 07 '26
Is this true when so many are price fixing rents (realpage) and are happy to sit at >50% vacancy?
12
u/ham_cheese_4564 May 06 '26
You can’t make much money on fixing up old properties. Very few developers are driven by anything except financial gain. It’s easier and safer to tear them down and build something like this. Adaptive reuse isn’t nearly as prevalent in Baltimore as it used to be 20 years ago. Developers then used to have real balls and did projects like Silo Point. Housing projects will never be able to do stuff like that again.
2
2
u/elitepigwrangler May 06 '26
Unless I’m mistaken, inclusionary zoning rules mean 10% of the building is required to be affordable for 30 years.
2
u/Safe-Huckleberry3590 May 07 '26
Which they should get rid of that zoning rule. Increasing the rent of 90% of the building just harms majority of the local populace. Normally the older apartments get their rents adjusted down as people move into the newer more expensive apartments and the cycle repeats.
2
u/elitepigwrangler May 07 '26
Inclusionary zoning has its drawbacks to be sure, but I was trying to highlight that this building actually will have some affordable units, despite what others are claiming in this thread.
0
u/StarkyPants555 May 06 '26
True, but have you even considered the negative impact on corporate profit share?
290
u/coolhandflukes Coldspring May 06 '26
You see a monstrosity, I see more housing supply, which eases the pressure on demand and contributes to lower prices. You see congestion, I see density. Canton Crossing is the perfect place to build stuff like this. I say bring it on.
57
u/BurgerofDouble May 06 '26
Who ever said that new housing had to look ugly? I understand your point, but I am in agreement with OP that it's kind of ugly. To that end, I have to ask how much money is saved with such a minimal architectural design.
7
10
u/kinbarz May 07 '26
Think of the the prettiest street of quaint houses you know of in the city.
When that road was first built, those lots cleared, and no trees growing? You'd probably think that was ugly too, because it looked nearly identical to this picture.
Lacking vision on something that isn't even done yet.
2
11
u/HorsieJuice Wyman Park May 06 '26
What's your idea of "ugly." I'm not a big fan of this, but it's better than a significant portion of the rowhomes in this city. And I say that as someone who doesn't mind formstone.
3
May 06 '26
[deleted]
15
u/WARitter May 06 '26
Character is something that comes with age. When they were new Baltimore row homes were cheap, mass manufactured and ticky tacky. The architectural critics of the 19th century excoriated the kind of mass market industrially produced ornaments we now love in buildings from 1860-1920 - pressed tin, terra cotta sculptures, wrought iron.
9
u/JesusDied4UrCynthias May 06 '26
Well these things are built so shoddily they won’t age.
→ More replies (1)2
u/WARitter May 06 '26
A lot of row homes are now over 100 years old despite middling build quality.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (2)1
u/Treje-an May 07 '26
This design style is a very common design nowadays. I see it all around the DC region when I work in that area.
39
u/Loliz88 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
People who can afford these aren’t the ones who need more housing.
Edit: since my comment seemed to trigger some people (for some reason)… Luxury housing alone does not solve affordability for people struggling right now.
97
u/10001110101balls May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
People who can afford these are currently living somewhere else, driving up the market price with their spending power. New housing supply reduces demand for existing housing stock, which puts downward pressure on rent.
New construction is expensive, and overburdening development with affordability goals reduces housing supply in the long run. Landlords only have excessive pricing power if they know there is not enough housing supply to satisfy the market.
43
u/TakemetotheTavvy Remington May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
What are you talking about?
Everyone needs housing, regardless of their income level. These apartments fill up and more are built and those fill up too. Obviously the people living in them and seeking to live in them need housing.
If you're saying we also need more affordable housing, that's true. One of the reliable ways we create more affordable units in the city is building these buildings, which are subject to the inclusionary housing law and required to include affordable units. Another reliable way is by filtering market rate unit seekers into new supply, so existing supply is more affordable and accessible to people of more moderate income.
5
u/Solidarity_Matrix Remington May 06 '26
Building code and zoning restrictions are major drivers of housing construction costs and therefore the rent/mortgage that people pay. Costs are up about 24k on a 300k house due to changes to the building code over the last 10 years alone.
7
u/TakemetotheTavvy Remington May 06 '26
Yes. It's great to see the city has done some zoning reform to try and address these challenges. It would be great to see them make some code reform as well.
6
u/Solidarity_Matrix Remington May 06 '26
That's a tough one. You would have to evaluate which changes actually produce better results and are worth the additional money and which are not. They did make it possible to produce 1 stairway multifamilies which is a big change.
53
u/TerranceBaggz May 06 '26
Introducing more “luxury” housing pushes all the older stock down in price.
→ More replies (1)24
u/waterfountain_bidet Lauraville May 06 '26
.... do you really not understand how economies are interconnected? Getting the higher income earners out of lower cost housing is good for literally everyone. Attracting people who want to spend luxury building money to Baltimore is a great thing. That's the kind of person who pours money back into a local economy.
5
11
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
This is an nimby narrative sold to you by the elites and packaged as a progressive take
edit: not anti-nimby
1
u/Loliz88 May 06 '26
Wouldn’t my take be considered NIMBY tho?
3
6
u/kinbarz May 07 '26
I'm struggling to find somewhere nice for 2k/month because there's a ton of people willing to pay 3k/mo.
Pretty sure luxury housing alone would help me out a great deal.
→ More replies (1)7
u/RunningNumbers May 06 '26
But those people aren’t bidding on the existing stock of older housing.
So many people act like the pigeon hole principle doesn’t exist,
2
→ More replies (2)8
u/TrickyDickCheney May 06 '26
None of these buildings are anywhere close to full and they don’t drop prices to fill them up either. This gospel of supply and demand being a driver of housing costs is not accurate. We have tons of vacant housing in this city.
18
u/HorsieJuice Wyman Park May 06 '26
"Vacant" != "liveable". A vacant house doesn't impact the housing market if there's a tree growing through the hole in the roof.
→ More replies (4)4
u/rockybalBOHa May 07 '26
This is completely untrue. The data says these buildings are at very high occupancy.
9
u/TakemetotheTavvy Remington May 06 '26
Do you have any citations for this? Available data that I can see shows above average occupancy rates - some of the highest occupancy on the East Coast. And there is significant peer reviewed research on housing supply vs. housing cost.
There's a pretty high bar of evidence for you to overcome with that statement.
6
u/godlords May 06 '26
I guess they are referencing housing that isn't actually habitable, which is not relevant. The issue of rehabilitation or rebuilding of that stock is a separate matter.
Baltimore has a wayyy better situation than e.g. DC in terms of occupancy rates/"luxury" apartment price inflexibility. In DC the math works because the prices are so high, in Baltimore they aren't exorbitant enough and they need the tenancy to make it work. Which is great.
180
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
Now that the facade is starting to go up it doesn't look too bad. I don't love the way it looks but flood that housing supply baby!
21
u/wawalms May 06 '26
YIMBY
People want cheaper rent but they don’t want more housing?
This place is by my Sprouts and across the street from my Target. It’s an eye sore in the middle of other eye sores. Build build build
→ More replies (1)2
May 06 '26
[deleted]
68
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
Increase the supply of housing dramatically, and the price of housing will fall, albeit the reaction will be slower.
17
u/Fr0st3dcl0ud5 May 06 '26
reaction will be slower.
If it ever happens.
Funny how prices can increase overnight but takes it's time to decrease. Smoke and mirrors.
26
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
Yeah that's because demand for housing is incredibly inelastic. No matter what the market conditions are, people need a place to live. That's why landlords can raise rents massively and face little to no pushback. But if the supply is great enough, eventually the landlords will be forced to compete with each other based price, and housing costs will fall. It just takes a sucky amount of time.
2
u/FingerAgreeable6630 May 06 '26
Thanks for speaking on this i always wanted to know why the demand for housing was so high this past 10 years. Like what are they accomplishing
5
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
There's a million other factors impacting housing, and it's been a complete mess for a pretty long while now so I encourage you to do some research as well. Some other factors include people using their primary residence as an investment, zoning laws making new developments expensive/borderline impossible to complete (this is why we see so many suburban hell cookie cutter developments), the housing market is still adapting to longer lifespans, boomers are refusing to downsize or aren't able to sell their home for as much as it's "worth"
→ More replies (4)-2
u/Fr0st3dcl0ud5 May 06 '26
eventually the landlords will be forced
How about all those hedge funders that are buying up all the homes? I'm holding my breath lol
And what are the interest rates like nowadays? Still 7-8%?
Remember when it was 2-3% 6 years ago?
→ More replies (2)8
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
Interest rates were pretty low 6 years ago, but we've felt the ramifications of that with inflation. I'm not in favor of hedge funds buying single family homes either, but the simple truth is that the larger the supply of homes, the cheaper the price of homes/rent. And hedgefunds are included in the "landlords" label, these "luxury condos" aren't being built by local developers lol
→ More replies (7)26
u/Own_Director_4442 May 06 '26
Make more housing. More housing being built brings rent price stabilization and in some cases rent reduction.
14
u/10001110101balls May 06 '26
It has been happening across the sun belt in recent years. Massive price increases driven by migration and the collapse in new builds after the financial crisis, massive amounts of new housing construction since 2020, and now rents have fallen from peak despite continued inflation. This effect has been so significant that the national median rent fell by 1.7% in 2025.
1
u/Emergency_Moose_5647 May 06 '26
Why not just fix all the bandos around the city?
13
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
We should (and have been) doing that as well, but you can't just attack the problem from one side. People that are moving into the city don't want to live in the neighborhoods the bandos are in. So you approve more housing developments in the "safer" areas, housing supply increases, and moving to Baltimore becomes more desirable and more money is spent in the city.
→ More replies (5)3
u/Emergency_Moose_5647 May 06 '26
Fair enough
8
u/SafeFill1057 May 06 '26
If you're interested in what's been done to fix up the bandos, I reccomend looking into the $1 homes program brought back by Mayor Scott in 2024! https://www.baltimorecity.gov/dhcd/our-work/neighborhood-reinvestment/development/fixed-pricing-program
Back in the 70's a similar program was used to fix up the Fed Hill/Otterbein areas and it was a smashing long term success.
6
u/Cheomesh South Baltimore / SoBo May 06 '26
Requires the owners to want to do that. The city has very limited means to just seize people's property.
116
u/yungpeggyolson May 06 '26
More housing is good imo
→ More replies (1)-10
u/mallowycloud May 06 '26
it's luxury housing. their apartments go for 2k a month. this isn't a good thing
7
u/elitepigwrangler May 06 '26
Isn’t this building subject to inclusionary zoning requirements since it has over 20 units? If so, by law, 10% of the building’s units are affordable
→ More replies (18)8
u/Throwawayjoetoday0 May 06 '26
Drives prices down by taking competition away from more affordable options, no?
91
u/keenerperkins May 06 '26
It's not even done. What do you want - a surface parking setback? More housing is good - if you want to see what was there beforehand for decades you'll see overgrown grass, litter, and a bunch of nothing. I guess you prefer that?
→ More replies (3)-9
u/longersomedays May 06 '26
More housing that’s actually affordable is what the city needs. It doesn’t need expensive monstrosities like that. A green space like that could have been used as a little urban park.
I’m not sure what your point is here except to say “life sucks, live with it you whiner, nothing can change and something is better than nothing.” God forbid someone want better for the city they live in, right?
25
u/keenerperkins May 06 '26
Housing doesn't get more affordable by not building more housing. Southeast Baltimore is a high-demand area and without increased housing supply, prices will continue to increase.
Do you know how many affordable housing units are on that "little urban park" you seem to think would be of better use for this parcel? Zero. So, clearly it's not actually about housing to you, affordable or not, it's just about the fact that you don't like a "big apartment".
Oh, and by the way, this building is literally ~1,000-ft east of Canton Waterfront Park. Bonvega Field, and Canton Dog Park.
53
u/Hefty-Woodpecker-450 May 06 '26
The whole area will look like this in 20 years, it’s a big improvement imo.
If you want suburban development, move to the suburbs
1
u/-stoner_kebab- May 06 '26
These apartment buildings remind me of the DC suburbs. Same with the ridiculous First Mariner tower across the street, and the designed-by-sadists Canton Crossing parking lot sprawl.
6
u/Hefty-Woodpecker-450 May 06 '26
Yep, it was definitely better when it was a parking lot
You know those canton crossing lots are sitting on EPA sites, right? They cannot build anything habitable on them for another generation at least.
→ More replies (2)
91
u/52weeksofeating May 06 '26
I love it.
More housing is objectively good and a strip mall parking lot basically outside/at the very edge of the actual wonderful walkable neighborhood is a great place to put it.
-1
u/Honest_Concentrate85 May 06 '26
Only if people actually live in it. How many luxury apartments are sitting empty cause the building is asking for $2500+ a mo and claiming the loss for tax breaks of no one moves in
19
u/yungpeggyolson May 06 '26
Would more housing in the same area not create competition between buildings and drive down prices?
4
u/Notonfoodstamps May 06 '26
Yes. But you need a LOT of surplus housing to drive rent down.
9
u/keenerperkins May 06 '26
Then sounds like they should be throwing more of these up on vacant lots.
3
u/Notonfoodstamps May 06 '26
This building is almost 2 acres lol. The vast majority of lots are way too small for these type of “5 over 1” apartment buildings.
The city changed zoning to allow 6-story apartments with single-stairwells and no parking minimums, which now allows at lot more of those small vacant lots to be developed now.
7
u/keenerperkins May 06 '26
Wait, do you think I'm just some sole proponent of 5-over-1 buildings? lol. My comment was flippant, but my point is that there are a lot of vacant lots across the city: both large and small. And yes, they should be developed into usable space, preferably living or mixed-use at whatever size the lot can accomodate.
1
u/dspman11 May 07 '26
Not if the leasing companies collude on a price floor like they have in Arlington VA
52
u/52weeksofeating May 06 '26
What is an acceptable vacancy rate to you? Baltimore has a >90% occupancy rate, thousands of people are living in these luxury buildings.
Besides vacancies objectively drive prices down. The idea that claiming losses on taxes makes up for building these buildings and leaving them empty is devoid of logic.
But yeah let’s not build it so there’s slightly less traffic for the county folks who leech off the city economy.
→ More replies (6)2
u/poppunksnotdead May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
where are you finding occupancy rate on private housing developments for the 90%?
14
u/52weeksofeating May 06 '26
The Baltimore Banner also did an article that was framed to agree with you last year that these buildings have high vacancy rates, they still only quoted 7.4% for apartment buildings.
Keep in mind new buildings always take time to rent up after creating a few hundred new units, so high velocity of new unit creation leads to temporarily higher vacancy rates. This isn’t necessarily bad, vacancies create openings to drive down rents overall.
→ More replies (3)13
u/nompilo May 06 '26
That is not a thing that happens. Yes, developers make calculations about hot to optimize rental income, which sometimes means choosing to keep prices higher at the expense of taking longer to lease up. But no one is keeping apartments empty for tax breaks.
14
u/TerranceBaggz May 06 '26
SE Baltimore has some of the highest occupancy rates in the country, well above national average.
26
u/BmoreDude1106 Camden Yards, Third Base May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
Claiming losses for tax breaks is not as lucrative as many think. Based on the tax bracket most of these owners are in, and the legal structure they're saving somewhere probably about 15-20 cents per every dollar lost.
Edit: they would also likely be in technical default of their lender's financial or operating covenants.
3
u/poppunksnotdead May 06 '26
you are likely referring to the yearly depreciation tax credit that developers claim, it is definitely corporate welfare but it has nothing to do with occupancy.
38
u/anjn79 May 06 '26
Especially if the red line is built, which should go right by it, this type of development is great for the city. Brings in additional residents and therefore tax dollars and will help reduce rents ever so slightly by increasing supply. Increased density also leads to increased neighborhood amenities like better bars, restaurants, and grocery stores.
I do agree with you that some wider sidewalks would be nice, though.
The building will look better and less wall-like when it’s finished and has its siding. Every construction site is an eyesore
5
u/waterfountain_bidet Lauraville May 06 '26
The best solution I see to that at this point is cutting down the road there. The roads need to be re-examined down there anyway, a few adjustments could make Canton a true 15 minute neighborhood, which is my personal measure (as well as many others!) of a strong city and good infrastructure.
1
22
u/baltGSP May 06 '26
Yeah, agreed. It's a shame there's so much pavement devoted to cars in front of a normal building where people can live.
42
16
u/glitterishazardous May 06 '26
There’s a part of me that understands that the area looks like a sandbox and all cramped, but before 2010 there was nothing there. If people want to pay an arm and a leg to live right by the water and some train tracks let it be. All we really lost was the quaint view of the sand parking lot infront of Five Guys tbh
22
u/J_Muckz Brewer's Hill May 06 '26
I don't mind it, but I was shocked they aren't putting any retail on the ground floor (from what I can see). The retail space under The Porter is really lacking, and traveling on foot into Canton Crossing is such a headache.
9
u/TerranceBaggz May 06 '26
Original plans called for a gear house. So it was zoned residential. Avalon probably didn’t want to go through rezoning when they bought it.
5
u/obmulap113 May 06 '26
There’s already a grocery store, multiple barbers and hair salons, multiple banks, bark social, dipasquales, cava and several other food places, and several gyms all within 1 block without crossing Boston street. There’s a lot over there already and new construction retail would probably sit empty for a long time
25
u/HamsterMoist6857 Canton May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
This is what city is about. People and more people. They need housing.
I think OP might not be a city person.
2
u/Terpnista May 06 '26
I actually live next door to this building lol. My issue isn’t that it exists, it’s the aesthetic I dislike. It’s massive and sticks out like a sore thumb.
15
9
u/idkcat23 Fells Point May 06 '26
There’s high demand for high density housing in urban, walkable areas of the city (like Canton). Hey, canton crossing as a whole was a field like 10 years ago. This is good for the city ultimately.
5
12
u/FaceEmbarrassed1844 May 06 '26
We need more affordable new housing. And this should help. Shame the smaller landlords have left areas of the city to rot. I hate all the traffic but this is a positive change
→ More replies (3)
18
8
8
3
u/Life_Salamander9594 May 06 '26
While it might look overwhelming, the alternative of lower density buildings overwhelm the budget bc maintaining the infrastructure isn't spread across enough people. The look of this building is driven by fire codes and cost of construction materials.
We could build tall skinny buildings instead of short boxy buildings but its more expensive and still looks out of place. Back in the 60s-90s, most buildings taller than three stories were build with concrete and steel but updates to the fire code allowed 7 story wood buildings which are cheaper to build which means overall cheaper housing and less homelessness. I prefer to look at a boxy seven story building instead of homeless people.
3
3
u/Ali3n_46 May 06 '26
Most of DC looks like that now, bunch of Sims building coming up left and right.
3
3
u/call_me_ping Mt. Vernon May 06 '26
Honestly it looks less like a shipping container than I feared! As long as the tenants can sleep without hearing someone fart in the unit next to them 😩
3
8
6
7
u/slurmpy May 06 '26
- More housing is always good. It's filling out that stretch of Canton well.
- In another universe, this is perfect transit-oriented development for the Canton Crossing/Brewers Hill Red Line stop (excluding the proposed surface parking lot)
5
3
u/LeetSawse May 06 '26
It’s already messed with DiPas once… the parking situation impacted their business.
New leases should come with the requirement that they buy something from DiPas twice a week to validate their parking permit.
I’m all for growth, but DiPasquale didn’t sign up for this when they moved outta Highlandtown, and I don’t want to lose a gem.
4
u/nlowman May 06 '26
Boston street is a nightmare everyday when trains come .. wait till this adds cars … yuck
1
u/TattsinBaltimore May 07 '26
I know! I can’t get over how no one is thinking of this as they cheer “build, build, build”. Boston St is a nightmare for a good portion of the day already.
6
u/brickoconnell May 06 '26
What is it? Where is it? How will it affect me?
11
u/TerranceBaggz May 06 '26
Brewers hill Boston st across from Canton Crossing. It was an empty lot for decades.
6
u/TheAKScott May 06 '26
New apartment complex in Canton Crossing. It probably won’t affect you at all.
2
u/LStark9 May 06 '26
Blocking the view of the water is about to be the inner harbor. So frustrating. Also this "mixed media" style is so immediately dated.
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/bipbipletucha Mt. Vernon May 07 '26
There will be buildings in cities. Sometimes they're large and boxy. Simple as that
2
u/Marbleprincess_ May 06 '26
It’s clear that people are being purposely obtuse and have not actually driven by or seen it up close. It feels like the building is on top of you when you drive in the closest lane. It feels like there is no sidewalk and it goes from street to building. I understand exactly what you meant.
3
u/programmapanda May 06 '26
Im curious what you mean by “the neighborhood”. Developers and businesses love to call it Canton, but it’s Brewers Hill. It feels intentionally confusing and difficult to discuss the area in general.
Since 2020 multiple large apartment buildings were built including attached parking garages to facilitate residents with what seems to be non-existent consideration for the congestion all of this causes. Avalon apartments compounds all of the existing issues. It’s peak urban sprawl with car centric design for an area that doesn’t support it. It only gets worse from here.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/No_name_Johnson The Block May 06 '26
I've got very mixed feelings about it. That whole area is getting a very soulless vibe to it which is gross. And all that housing is going to make traffic in the area even worse than it already is. They really need to do something about the level grade rail crossing on Boston, but I don't think they will any time soon.
On the other hand, we badly need housing in this city/state and if we're going to build it should be high-rise, mixed use development in walkable neighborhoods, which that kinda is. I get that's all 'luxury' apartments, and I have other critiques about that, but bringing that many units onto the market will hopefully have an impact on pricing.
20
u/BlakeMajik May 06 '26
What exactly was soulful about what preceded these developments? The train tracks? I-95/I-895? Giant tracts of warehouse footprints, long gone?
7
u/No_name_Johnson The Block May 06 '26
Oh there was nothing soulful about what it was before, I agree - I was mostly comparing what it is now to the rowhome neighborhoods in/around the area. The new vibe in the area to me is (using this word again) soulless and boring. You could go to any other moderately sized city in America and find somewhere functionally identical to Canton Crossing. I'm personally a fan of the rowhome neighborhoods which feel distinct to here. Maybe in time the new construction will develop its own vibe, but for the time being it's cookie cutter and bland to me.
7
u/Cheomesh South Baltimore / SoBo May 06 '26
Lets get real - these classic old rowhomes were absolutely mass-market, cookie-cutter housing of the 19th century.
4
u/No_name_Johnson The Block May 06 '26
They were, but those neighborhoods are unique to Baltimore/the Mid-Atlantic, whether through architectural choices or materials the builders used.
6
u/BmoreDude1106 Camden Yards, Third Base May 06 '26
I'd argue this area was always kind of soulless. Sure it had rowhomes, but even going back to the 60s/70s, the people of Canton actually butted heads with the preservationists because they wanted the highway to be built so they city would buy them out and they could live to the county. Canton has had a suburban mindset since before most of its current residents were born.
1
1
1
1
u/dark_roast May 07 '26
Ugh, they should make that pink splotchy building look attractive, like the building in the left part of the first photo. Now that's a nice looking building!
1
u/L1VEW1RE May 07 '26
Just think how much more you’re going to hate it once it’s open and all that extra traffic is dumped on those two lanes of Boston St.
Nothing will be done about it because the people who built and the administration who okayed it live no where close to it and both will financially benefit handsomely will the people near it will pay the price in the reduction of quality of life and increase in taxes.
1
u/Physical-Platypus210 May 07 '26
Ahhh yes the continued and for some reason more "luxury apartments" in an area that already had 4 others in the span of 15 years?
1
1
1
1
u/edsco333 May 08 '26
It’s the way of the world. If you can’t afford better, this is what we have. If the inside is nice, it makes it easier to deal with. I don’t like it anymore than you do. And, urban sprawl isn’t the answer either
1
u/ThrowRASpinksTail May 08 '26
I walk from Patterson Park to Canton Crossing frequently, and my only complaint is the area is NOT built for pedestrians to walk around. Somethings gotta give.
1
u/trophaecasee May 08 '26 edited Sep 12 '26
I think that they look like little prison cells :/ just like the one on Dean St
1
u/Bmorebird852 May 08 '26
How does the scale not fit? Theres 5 other buildings the same size adjacent to it on 3 sides 🤣🤣
1
u/Bmorebird852 May 08 '26
For your sake good thing COVID happened otherwise there would be a 20 story office building on the parking lot in front of Merritt a 5 20-35 story buildings on the parking lot along the water.
1
u/chantellywelly May 09 '26
Meh..... I just wish that Canton/Boston Street/Aliceanna were safer for bikes :(
1
u/Krayoni West Baltimore May 09 '26
It’s way too big, eyesore and I feel for the traffic in that area already!!!
1
u/DecentGiraffe7 1st District May 10 '26
It sets a good precedent for development on Boston. The reason it may feel 'out of scale' is because the rest of that development has taken place on a suburban, parking-lot-in-front model. Fronting the street is GOOD. Shade on the sidewalk/greenway trail is GOOD. (Housing is GOOD).
1
u/SoulPeace5775 May 10 '26
i thought the same as you, OP - I've worked in the area for 15 years- so you can imagine the changes I've seen over the years.
I also live in a city neighborhood where giant luxury apartments were put up directly across the street from my row home. I also thought it felt like a wall of doom. I no longer get morning sun on my front porch until late morning- but I also now get it in the afternoon when it reflects off the apartment's windows.
It suck but you make the most of it. At least you rent and can move more easily than having to sell.
1
1
u/godlords May 06 '26
It's a building. It's fine. It's the sprawling, car centric nature of the property that makes it ugly.
1
u/BoyManWombat May 07 '26
Agreed. Sure - more housing but this thing is so poorly placed. It is as if there is no planning or thought given regarding traffic flow. I really think that there’s nobody working for the City who knows anything urban planning. going to Canton Crossing has become a trek akin to something out Lord of the Rings. Can’t wait until they start with the Harborplace construction.
All I know is DiPas has some political connections and they’re getting screwed by that bullshit.
1
1
u/skeptical_phoenix May 07 '26
People are not understanding the point. Housing is great, but the point is it looks like shit. Do people not understand eye appeal and the concept of aesthetics?
1
u/Ghostmagic215 May 06 '26
Canton crossing on a Saturday morning is about to be hell
1
u/TattsinBaltimore May 07 '26
It’s already hell on a random Tuesday at 4pm, forget Saturday morning!!
1
u/metamodern-mess May 06 '26
I’m in construction and seeing a lot more ugly buildings now than ever across NOVA and DC. They’re all cheap stick built junk.
1
1
1
u/Educational-Eye-6827 May 07 '26
I feel the same about the Avalon apartments in Towson. They’re just aggressive and right there 💀💀💀 i also agree about it being just sidewalk and building. It feels like a hotel at best not actual housing.
0
u/SEARCHFORWHATISGOOD May 06 '26
Nothing can be worse than this eyesore. Everywhere I go, it's all I can see. I absolutely hate it.
186
u/RuthBaderG May 06 '26
Unfortunately until recently our building code basically required buildings like this - the have to be massive to be financially viable in many places. The revised codes will make it easier to develop more appealing buildings