Amtrak names finalists in Penn Station master developer competition
Amtrak announced Wednesday that it has selected three teams to compete to lead the redevelopment of Baltimore’s Penn Station and other nearby properties owned by the quasi-public passenger railway.
The finalists for the high-profile redevelopment site include several well known Baltimore firms, one of the country’s largest minority-owned real estate firms, and a company the railroad has been working with on the redevelopment around Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.
Amtrak plans to choose a master developer in summer 2017 to create a master plan and lead design, construction and management of the properties and non-rail parts of the station.
Amtrak declined to say how many firms responded to the request for qualifications. It will formally solicit proposals from finalists this winter.
The station’s long-planned redevelopment is part of a broader push by the passenger railroad to capitalize on its real estate. Local officials also have called for improvements.
The finalists are:
•Penn Station Partners, which is led by Baltimore’s Beatty Development Group, the developer of Harbor Point. The team also includes Armada Hoffler Properties, a frequent Beatty partner, and Bill Struever’s Cross Street Partners. Amtrak previously tapped Beatty in 2013 to create a master plan for the station.
•Peebles-AZ Baltimore Penn, which is led by the Peebles Corp., a private company based in Florida that is one of the nation’s largest minority owned development, with projects that include a major transit-oriented project in Boston and a Washington office building that includes Amtrak offices. It is working with Baltimore’s AZ Group, New York investment management firm MacFarlane Partners and Baltimore’s Williams Jackson Ewing and Marks, Thomas Architects.
✭Brandywine Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust headquartered in Pennsylvania, which has been working on the station master plan in Philadelphia. The team led by the firm includes Baltimore architecture firm Ayers Saint Gross, Baltimore’s Pinkard Properties, Bethesda’s Clark Construction and Madison Marquette, a Washington firm with projects that include 1 Light Street in Baltimore.