They tried the ritzy out-of-town developers. They tried local ones. They even tried breaking up the quagmire that is the Superblock into bite-size parcels.

All failed. Then, it burned.

Now, Baltimore is leading the massive redevelopment on its own, a plan leaders say they were working on before the Sept. 2 five-alarm blaze that resulted in the destruction of 11 buildings, many of them historic.

The Superblock, a description for two blocks bounded by Howard, Lexington, Park and Fayette west of downtown, has bedeviled city officials and developers for more than two decades. That area was the commercial heart of Baltimore in the mid-20th century, a spot where shoppers descended upon department stores like Hutzler’s, Hecht’s and Stewart’s and bustling smaller businesses.

Suburban creep and changing consumer patterns slowed visits to the area substantially, and in the early 2000s city officials booted the remaining shop owners and bought up the land with an aim to pair historic preservation with modern revitalization.

Those dreams proved quixotic. Instead, the would-be development has become a thorn in the side of seven consecutive mayors.

Otis Rolley, recently selected by Mayor Brandon Scott as president and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corp., thinks it’s time for an entirely different approach.

Instead of seeking yet another developer, the city’s economic development arm is now leading the project — the biggest undertaking by the agency in decades.

Explaining why it makes sense to spearhead the Superblock project, Rolley emphasized the agency’s name: “It’s called the Baltimore Development Corporation.”

For the last quarter century, the Superblock has remained largely dormant, quietly deteriorating until last month’s fire thrust the stagnant redevelopment project back into the spotlight.

Investigators have been unable to determine the cause of the blaze, which devastated several buildings on the west side of the parcel. Preservationists initially hoped that some of the historic structures could be saved, but 11 buildings were partially or completely razed in the aftermath.

Ironically, that fire could aid in future development.

Although much of the Superblock remains a complex “cornucopia of buildings” that require historic preservation, Rolley said, the demolition means a more streamlined development project.

“It is always a little easier with a blank slate,” he said.

The previous head of the Baltimore Development Corp., Colin Tarbert, had planned to issue another request for proposals for the Superblock this year. But when Rolley interviewed with the mayor for his new position, he suggested an ambitious pivot: a takeover of the project, according to Rolley.

He said he expects to complete a redevelopment plan over the next year, then secure capital between 2027 and 2028, then complete the mixed-use project by 2031.

The agency — typically a liaison between city government and private business — rarely wades into major development projects itself.

One that Rolley pointed to, the BDC’s ownership of the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, hasn’t gone so well. The hotel has cost taxpayers millions of dollars in recent years.

Unlike the Hilton, though, Rolley said there is no expectation that the Superblock would solely be a city project. He plans, instead, to identify a private partner.

Judson Kerr, president of the Market Center Merchants Association, which includes the Superblock, said the city has historically lacked a comprehensive strategy “about what is necessary and needed in the district to support the people who live and work and operate in the district.”

Still, even after the development’s standstill history, Kerr said he is optimistic for the future of the area.

Others, though, roll their eyes when Rolley outlines his vision.

“I’m talking about the deep rolls of the eyes,” Rolley said. “People are like, ‘Oh Lord, been there, done there, bought the T-shirt — and it doesn’t fit anymore.’”

Rolley, who worked for mayors Kurt Schmoke, Martin O’Malley and Sheila Dixon and ran for mayor in 2011, has also held several jobs in the nonprofit and private sectors, most recently as a social impact adviser for an investment firm.

Baltimore leaders have “tried again and again to attract” the right developers to turn the Superblock into a vibrant hub of commerce, but factors including the Great Recession in 2008 scuttled plans, said Jonas Poggi, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.

He cited a decline in city homicides and “an actual plan that will end the vacants crisis for good” as evidence that the circumstances today are riper. Baltimore is in the midst of a 15-year, $3 billion effort to remediate 35,000 vacant homes.

Redevelopment of the Superblock was initially part of a larger West Side effort that began in the 1990s under Schmoke. In the early 2000s, the city identified a group of well-financed New Yorkers to develop it. But over the course of a decade, they repeatedly failed to meet local historic preservation standards and eventually were cut from the deal — prompting a lawsuit.

A series of attempts beginning in 2015 to find new developers yielded little. The most recently chosen developers, based in Baltimore, were tapped in 2020, but couldn’t come up with the needed cash.

“I’ve been hearing about the Superblock for quite some time, right? Like, literally since I was in high school,” Scott, 41, said recently.

It has sat largely vacant and eerie, yet full of history and, in the eyes of some, untapped potential.

Some observers point to nearby crime in the area as a hurdle to progress; an open-air drug market in the vicinity persists. Others hope that adjacent developments, like the rebuilt Lexington Market, signify promise.

Last month’s blaze and its aftermath claimed prized structures, including the Howard Theatre, originally known as the New Pickwick.

Also in its path were buildings that once housed the Howard Furniture Co. and McCrory’s discount store. Easily missed at street level, the structures’ upper facades were an ornate mix of dentil cornices, embellished stonework and sturdy cast-iron plating; city officials said workers in lifts removed the plates one bolt at a time for preservation.

“Those buildings are irreplaceable,” said Nicole King, a University of Maryland, Baltimore County professor who has extensively researched the Superblock. “We don’t build buildings like that anymore.”

The blaze spared a landmark of the block.

Read’s Drug Store, a boxy art deco structure at the southeast corner of Howard and Lexington streets, was the site of an early sit-in during the civil rights movement. The protest pushed Read’s to end a policy of segregation at its lunch counters.

For now, much of the site is roped off with caution tape and a temporary coated fence. Through a gap, the rubble is visible: a mess of bricks, wood, pipes and metal.

Seven buildings on the Superblock have been fully razed, and four others have been partially razed, said Poggi, the mayor’s office spokesperson.

Crews will next demolish more of the partially razed buildings and remove the debris.

The city’s contractor has not determined a timeline, Poggi said.

Baltimore Banner reporter Bria Overs contributed to this article.