Baltimore government officials and members of the city’s development community confirmed Wednesday that segments of the historic Superblock caught fire during Tuesday afternoon’s five-alarm blaze.
The flames swept through at least three vacant buildings, officials said, causing one to collapse. The fire was considered under control shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson John Marsh said.
The fire was first reported in the 200 block of W. Fayette Street shortly after 3 p.m. and required the attention of over 100 firefighters, officials said. The cause is still under investigation.
Baltimore Police Department arson investigators and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene Wednesday.
The degree to which the Superblock suffered damage wasn’t immediately clear, but officials said Wednesday morning that at least some of the buildings within its border were affected. The former shopping and commercial district, a regional draw that once contained vibrant department stores and retailers, is made up of more than two dozen city-owned parcels across two blocks. It is bounded by West Lexington Street, Park Avenue, North Howard Street and West Fayette Street.
Development rights for the district has been awarded to several teams since a planned reinvestment initiative kicked off in 2003, but it has never found the financing necessary for a full rebuild. That’s left the structures vacant over time and subject to decay.
Members of the Baltimore Development Corp., the city’s development arm which has attempted to match the Superblock with the right developers, raised concerns with Mayor Brandon Scott’s office about the parcel’s condition last December, according to a memo reviewed by The Banner.
They noted that despite progress on the west side of downtown, including a new CFG Bank Arena, rehabilitated Lexington Market and M&T Bank Exchange site, it wasn’t enough to galvanize the rest of the area.
The memo called on the city to “successfully redevelop” the Superblock, which was almost entirely abandoned and deteriorating.
“Reimagined, this block could become a vibrant hub of housing, small businesses, and cultural spaces that anchor the Westside’s revival,” the memo said. They warned it would require “significant financial resources” and encouraged the Scott administration to work with the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund, a nonprofit and nontraditional bank, on developing a new investment fund that could be tailored to downtown’s needs.
Mayor Brandon Scott said he could not comment on whether the fire would impact future development until the investigation is complete. But revitalization “needs to happen,” he said, noting that plans for the area have been discussed for decades.
Asked if the deteriorating condition of the buildings could have contributed to the fire, Scott wouldn’t offer an opinion.
“We have to see what the actual cause was,” he said.
As of Wednesday morning, firefighters were in a “fire watch” mode to ensure nothing reignited, spokesman Marsh said. No injuries have been reported.
Baltimore Banner reporters Clara Longo de Freitas and Justin Fenton contributed to this report.
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