"A Compromise on the 25th Street Station Development." A letter from Gabriel Goodenough
Wed, May 19, 2010 at 5:04 PM
subject A Compromise on the 25th Street Station Development
5:04 PM (4 hours ago)
Dear community members, political leaders, developers, and members of the media:
First, let me thank each of you for the energy and passion you put forth to help Baltimore become the city that it should be! I am writing this email to express my personal, hopefully insightful, perception of the ongoing debate that is occurring with respect to the 25th Street Station Development in the neighborhood of Remington.
I have been a resident of Remington for the past 13 years. About 5 years ago several neighbors and myself established a community association called Wyman Park South (WPS). WPS represents a small, but passionate, group of 50 homes in the neighborhood. Our mission is to play an active role in area revitalization efforts, and to assist in the rehabilitation of the parkland that surrounds our homes. Together we have partnered with talented and creative city leaders such as Mary Pat Clarke and Belinda Conaway to create positive solutions to issues that affect our area. We have worked with the city during a multimillion-dollar sewage construction project and helped them relocate a planned sewage pumping station to a site that was not on parkland. As part of this construction project we were also able to gain improvements to the park such as a paved bike trail. This entire process was done in a non-adversarial and respectful manner that took into account both the needs of the city and the community. From this experience, I and others, have learned that mutually satisfying resolutions to civic problems are fully attainable.
During my time in Baltimore, I have watched many city businesses close or leave for the suburbs. Like others, I was devastated to learn that Anderson Automotive, one of the largest companies and employers in our neighborhood, was leaving for the county. So, for me, the news that WV Urban Developments, LLC was planning to construct a mixed-use complex on the Anderson site, complete with a Lowe’s Home Center, was a blessing. Developer Rick Walker was revolutionary enough to see the economic possibility and potential that exists in Baltimore. Specifically, I would like to thank Mr. Walker and his team for their desire to bring the first Lowe’s to Baltimore City; I believe such a business is critical to healing our city. Because Baltimore has approximately 14,000 vacant or abandoned houses, 12,000 empty lots, and countless more homes in need of major repair, we need establishments that are accessible for us to be able to purchase the materials needed to rehabilitate these houses and redevelop these empty parcels.
I have experienced remodeling a house in Baltimore first hand. Over 12 years ago I purchased a vacant house in Remington and embarked on the challenge of making it livable. One of the most difficult, and time-consuming parts of the process was getting supplies. Then, like today, most home improvement stores were located either in the suburbs or on the far edges of the city. Even now, if I do larger home projects, I drive a 26-mile roundtrip to Cockeysville, MD where there are several home improvement related stores. Understandably, many in our community feel that a Lowe’s will hurt neighborhood hardware stores such as Falkenhan’s. I, however, am confident these local stores will survive. I have and will continue to be a customer of Falkenhan’s, with our without a Lowe’s nearby. The convenience, service and expertise that local places such as this provide have saved me countless times, and as a result they have gained my loyalty. However, local hardware stores are not able to fully supply people with everything necessary to do larger construction projects. These smaller stores do not have the space or staff needed to stock the wide variety of things these projects require. I believe both local hardware stores and centrally located larger home improvement centers are needed to successfully rebuild Baltimore.
When the 25th Street Station Development was announced on November 18, 2009 it seemed that many in the community were excited. Yes, some were also nervous; however, I witnessed no evidence of an organized group of citizens that opposed the project. Rather, it was the announcement on February 24, 2010 that a Wal-Mart would be joining Lowe’s in the complex that seemed to start a ground swell of opposition. Citizens created an online petition called “No Wal-Mart in Remington” that presently has 1,105 signatures. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/no-wal-mart-in-remington They also established a Facebook page named “Keep Wal-Mart out of Remington” which has 1,439 members http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=329642011388 . There have been months of heated community meetings and a multitude of news articles detailing the controversy. During my time in the community, I have never witnessed a local issue that has generated such a large and intense outcry as this opposition to Wal-Mart. From listening to and analyzing this movement, it seems that what started out initially as a fight to stop Wal-Mart, has now turned into an opposition to the 25th Street Station Development as a whole, and “big box” stores in general. Thus, it seems legitimate to fear that this opposition could delay the site’s development, or even obstruct it entirely.
To save the development and regain community support, it may be important to compromise with the community and find another store to replace the Wal-Mart. The developer’s initial description of the second anchor business being a grocery store seemed to have wide support in the community, and it may be prudent to go back to that plan. Two possible recommendations to serve as this second anchor could be stores such as Trader Joe’s or Costco Wholesale. Both stores would serve as high profile anchors, and I believe would be more acceptable to opponents of the Wal-Mart.
In an April 15, 2009 Baltimore Messenger article Mr. Walker of WV Urban Developments stated that, “39 percent of Baltimore residents drive to the suburbs because of a lack of stores like Wal-Mart.” I think Mr. Walker is partially correct; a large percentage of Baltimore residents, like myself, do travel to the suburbs to shop. However, I disagree that we travel to shop specifically at stores like Wal-Mart. This is because there is already a Wal-Mart and stores like it located in the city. There is a Wal-Mart in the Port Covington Shopping Center, and less than 3 miles away from the 25th Street Station Development site there is a Target, Wal-Mart’s largest competitor. Both the Port Covington Wal-Mart and the nearby Target are well served by public transportation and thus also accessible to residents without vehicles. It may be conjecture, but I believe that a majority of that 39 percent of Baltimoreans who travel to the suburbs travel by car, and shop specifically at stores not located in the city. I can tell Mr. Walker, from personal experience, that even with the traffic and parking pains involved, that I often drive the 24-mile roundtrip to shop at the Trader Joe’s in Towson. However, it is not only me, as there is a 2,135-signature petition signed by Baltimore residents who wish to bring Trader Joe’s to the city. (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?tjsbc)
In the previously mentioned Baltimore Messenger article Mr. Walker also said that the “income levels here (Remington) don’t support a Trader Joe’s.” The two Trader Joe’s in the suburbs draw customers from a very large geographic area; I don’t see why a 25th Street Station Trader Joe’s would be any different. This new Trader Joe’s would be many times closer to wealthier city neighborhoods such as Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton, Roland Park, and Guilford. Trader Joe’s also offers value for lower income customers, as highlighted by a May 2009 Consumer Reports study which gave the company the second highest score out of 59 national supermarket chains in terms of price and value. I guess this is why people say the store has “bourgeoisie food at proletariat prices.”
Costco Wholesale could also be a good fit at 25th Street Station for a number of reasons. First, Costco draws its customer base from an extremely large geographic area, so it could serve the city as a whole, not just the immediate neighborhood. Presently, there are only two Costco’s in this metropolitan area, and both are located in the suburbs a great distance from the city center. This warehouse club also draws its sales from a diverse customer base, including both retail and business customers, as well as customers from a diversity of socioeconomic levels. Due to Costco’s extremely low unit pricing and bulk sales model, a variety of local businesses including, corner stores and restaurants could benefit from purchasing some of their inventory from Costco. Consumer Reports and a variety of other entities reveal that Costco and similar wholesale clubs have the most competitive grocery prices in the industry, a fact that would also help out working families. In terms of developer Walker’s needs, Costco’s average store size is similar to that of the planned Wal-Mart with regard to square footage.
Some citizens and local politicians are concerned that the planned Wal-Mart will not pay workers fare wages, or give the majority of workers health care. In these areas, Costco is also an industry leader. Costco’s average wage is around $17 an hour while Wal-Mart’s average hovers below $11 (Washington Post, 1/30/07). According to Costco CEO, Jim Sinegal, this higher wage is paid to employees for a number of reasons, most importantly because he believes that industries that pay only the minimum wage are constantly turning their people over. Thus, they spend more on turnover then they would in paying the additional wages. These higher wages would also mean additional income tax revenue for the city. Costco CEO, Jim Sinegal, also caps his own wage at $350,000, which is only twice what a store manager makes, and less than ten times the salary of the average cashier (New York Times 4/4/04: Inside Week, 4/14/05). In terms of health care, 85% of Costco’s workers have health insurance, compared with less than 50% at Wal-Mart and Target (New York Times, 7/17/08).
This is a critical time for the 25th Street Station Development as it is presently in the PUD (Planned Unit Development) zoning process. There are many reasons for which the Wal-Mart presents additional challenges to the project during this process. Wal-Mart Senior Regional Manager Rhonda Washington revealed the biggest challenge in a February 24, 2010 community meeting when she stated, “the average Wal-Mart draws 50,000 customers during a Friday to Sunday weekend.” How will our dense, predominately residential community, be able to handle this volume, and will the PUD process come up with effective solutions?
Stores such as Trader Joe’s or Costco Wholesale would help the developer make 25th Street Station a success by drawing a diversity of customers from the largest possible geographic area, thus increasing the possibility of success for all other businesses in the complex.
I thank all of you for your thoughtfulness and involvement in this planning process. This is a critical crossroad for our neighborhood, as this development, for good or bad, will forever change the quality of life in our community. So, let’s make sure all sides can come to a point of compromise reached through persuasion not coercion.
Sincerely,
Gabriel Goodenough
Executive Director, Wyman Park South Association