Hollander 95 Business Park Fuels Revitalization and Growth in East Baltimore

Mayor Sheila Dixon, city officials, and members of the community join together to break ground on first state-of-the-art warehouse / mixed-use project in area

BALTIMORE, MD, October 9, 2007 – Today's groundbreaking for the Hollander 95 Business Park on Baltimore's East Side marks the rebirth of the site of a former federal housing project. The event brings together Mayor Sheila Dixon, Baltimore Development Corporation's Jay Brodie, Doug McCoach, the city's Director of the Department of Planning, and other dignitaries and guests who will join in kicking off the construction of the first state-of-the-art light industrial warehouse and mixed-use business park in East Baltimore.

Hollander 95 will bring nearly 500 new and relocated jobs to East Baltimore and will also provide this up-and-coming industrial area with the services and amenities it needs to grow and thrive. The project is also bringing opportunities to the many minority-owned contractors and businesses that are key parts of the project team, as well as a wide range of Baltimore-based businesses.

A project of Elkridge-based real estate development firm H & H Rock Companies and The Shapiro Company, Hollander 95 will include more than 600,000 square feet of retail, office, flex, and industrial/warehouse space, located near the key access points of Interstates 95 and 895, as well as near the Port of Baltimore and downtown Baltimore.

"The Hollander 95 Business Park will fill a real need here in East Baltimore," said Bradd Caplan, H & H Rock Companies Project Manager. "This area is full of old, obsolete warehouse space. We're replacing that with state-of-the-art space, featuring updated utilities and storefront exposure to both I-95 and 895. Not only will Hollander 95 benefit the businesses that make this site their new home, it will also be an important contributor to the revitalization of this community."

Hollander 95 is located on the site of the former Hollander Ridge public-housing complex. That 1,000-unit complex was demolished in 2000, when the city made the strategic shift to lower-density, low-rise homes, but the property then sat vacant for more than a decade.

"This is a true public private partnership," added Mark Shapiro, President of the Shapiro Company. "The mayor and the city had the foresight to choose this location for development as an industrial park, and the project team brings the expertise needed to create not just new warehouse space, but an economic engine that will have an ongoing positive effect on the surrounding community and the city as a whole."