McHenry Row Project Earns Honors at the Maryland NAIOP Awards of Excellence Gala

BALTIMORE, Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The McHenry Row Mixed-Use Development was honored with several awards, including Best Mixed-Use Urban project, at the recent Maryland National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) Awards of Excellence Gala. STV provided surveying, master planning, civil engineering, landscape design services and construction administration services for the project.

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McHenry Row also won awards for Best Retail and Most Creative Financial Transaction at the gala.

McHenry Row is a nine-acre site that was originally the location of the Chesapeake Paperboard Company, which manufactured recycled-content paperboard. After the paperboard company closed, the industrial site was tagged for redevelopment and rezoned.

STV prepared and processed a Business Planned Unit Development, which allows for flexibility with zoning bulk regulations, through the Baltimore City Council. The firm presented and received approval for the master plan from Baltimore City's Urban Design and Architectural Review Panel.

The project included the demolition of vacant industrial buildings to make way for 110,000 square feet of retail space, 60,000 square feet of office space, 250 apartments on the site and two parking structures. Construction on the development in the Locust Point neighborhood in Baltimore City was completed earlier this year. Two buildings in the development were LEED^® certified: the Harris Teeter grocery store was certified LEED^® Silver and the office building was certified LEED^® Gold.

"We collaborated with the owner as well as the architect to develop a master plan that responded to the owner's desires and addressed the community's wishes," said Addison Palmer, RLA, LEED^® AP, senior project manager at STV. "We established public and private open spaces, such as the plaza courtyard. We also preserved key historic parts of the site, including a 110-foot tall water tower, which is a remnant from the site's industrial past and now serves as a key landmark within the development and the community."

There were several major challenges addressed on this project. "Certainly working within the existing urban fabric with an infill redevelopment project was a challenge in itself," Palmer said.  Phasing, access and construction logistics were addressed during the design process. A new signalized intersection at Key Highway, a major artery that serves as a gateway into Baltimore City and Interstate 95, was incorporated to provide convenient access to and from the site and minimize traffic impacts to the adjacent neighborhood. 

Palmer added that there were additional environmental requirements because the project is located within the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area and designated as a brownfield. The project received approval through the Maryland Department of the Environment Voluntary Cleanup Program. 

The NAIOP-MD Awards of Excellence celebrate and recognize the highest quality and most innovative achievements of regional commercial real estate developers, as well as companies and individuals that service the industry in Maryland.

STV is celebrating its 100^th anniversary in 2012. Since its earliest predecessor firm opened its doors in 1912, the firm has grown to become a leader in providing planning, architectural, engineering, environmental and construction management services for buildings and facilities, transportation systems, energy and infrastructure. STV is ranked 32^nd in Engineering News-Record's Top 500 Design Firms survey. STV is 100 percent employee-owned. For more information, visit our website at www.stvinc.com or follow @STVGroup on Twitter.

SOURCE STV