UPDATE: Mayoral hopeful Bob O’Shea just issued the following statement on the failed proposal:
“It is unfortunate that a compromise could not be reached. As mayor I would support a proposal that had the input of the local residents and business community. I hope all interested parties take this opportunity to reevaluate the process so that it is more inclusive.
“I encourage city residents to attend the public hearing on July 8 and remind our elected leaders that we must review any proposed development with the needs of the community in mind and not just the needs of the developer.”
UPDATE: We just spoke with a partner in the project and they wanted to clarify why they pulled out of the project. The HPC had indicated that they would not approve anything taller than the 32′ height limit. The Mayor indicated to the partnership that he would not go against the HPC and he too would be unwilling to support anything over 32 feet. After several consults this morning with their engineers and architects, it was determined that the envisioned project needed the 38′ height to work. With the loss of support from the Mayor and the emergence of the Save Annapolis coalition who opposed the project, the decision was made to pull out.
UPDATE: Save Annapolis issued a revised statement:
The Coalition to Save Annapolis has learned that the developer has withdrawn his proposal and that the re-development of 110 Compromise Street has been delayed. We hope and believe that Mayor Cohen will take this opportunity to withdraw his application for rezoning and focus the city’s efforts on developing a comprehensive cost benefit analyses and sector study of the Annapolis City Dock Master Plan. We look forward to partnering with Mayor Cohen to develop a great plan that improves City Dock while preserving our heritage and reputation as a beautiful historic seaport.
UPDATE: Save Annapolis has issued a statement:
The Coalition to Save Annapolis is pleased that the developer has withdrawn his proposal and that the re-development of 110 Compromise Street has been delayed. We hope and believe that Mayor Cohen will take this opportunity to withdraw his application for rezoning and focus the city’s efforts on developing a comprehensive cost benefit analysis and sector study of the Annapolis City Dock Master Plan. We look forward to working with the Mayor on this.
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONSAnnapolis Business AssociationAnnapolis Landing MarinaAnnapolis Marine Art Annapolis School of Seamanship
Bay Yacht Agency
BlancaFlor
Campbell Properties
City Dock Coffee
Fleet Reserve Club
Historic Annapolis Foundation
Liquified Creative
Marine Trades Assoc. of Maryland
McGarvey’s Saloon
Middleton
Moyer Consulting
R.A. Noyce and Associates
Storm Brothers
Studio 50 Design
The Big Cheese
US Yacht Shows
Ward One Residents Association
UPDATE: Here is a copy of the letter sent to Mayor Cohen:
Dear Josh,
We are withdrawing our proposal to build at 110 Compromise Street. We hoped for a collaborative process, reached out to the interested parties and even planned open houses which have now cancelled. We prefer to avoid seeing people protest what we’re doing, so that instead they can save today’s deteriorated city dock. On behalf of my partners and I, I wish you my very best.
Please also thank your colleagues in the city’s management team, who I know had hoped for, and worked toward a positive outcome.
Mark
UPDATE: We have learned that the Mayor may modify his own ordinance based on the project being pulled. It is unsure if there will be a public hearing on July 8th. The deal apparently fell through over the the height issue and the general frustration of doing business in the City. The proposed ordinance increased the maximum height from 32′ to 38′. Additionally, the new regulations require buildings to be above the flood plain level which is an additional 7′. This allowed the developer to achieve the 2 1/2 story height. The engineers with the developer have said that there was no way to accomodate that with the current design. We have learned that the Historic Preservation Commission had the final say on height and they had indicated that they would force the lower height restriction which was unacceptable to the developer.
Developer has said that they initially wanted to do what was good for the City and had hoped for a collaborative effort and that politics came into play and it became evident that the partnership between the developer and the special interest groups opposed to this project would never work.
We learned that the developer delivered a letter to the Mayor this morning.
Eye On Annapolis has learned that the proposal to develop the former Fawcett property in Annapolis at 110 Compromise Street has been rescinded and the proposed development will not be taking place in the City Of Annapolis.
More details forthcoming!
