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It’s part of the prolific and nationallyknown builder’s decision to ride out the recessioj as a for-fee consultant and contractor and extends to most of its projects from New England to North company CEO C. William “Bill” Strueve r said. Struever, who pioneered the idea of Baltimore’s waterfront as a “Digital Harbor” and home for high-tec h businesses, said he was forced into the position by mounting debts and the inability to borroew money tofinance projects. Those conditions, he developed more quickly than he expected due to the economicf downturn and nationwidecredit crunch. Baltimore-basedd Struever Bros.
has significantly reduced its work force in response tothe shift, and now employsx fewer than 100 people. “I’mn a joyful, ebullient, optimistic guy; that’ss why I’m in trouble,” Struever “I never would have guessed how hard it was going to be to get financing forthose projects.” The compant has amassed more than $10 millionn in debts and loan defaults, according to courtr records, and like competitors in the downturn, it is havingb trouble raising money to fuel its Across Baltimore, developers have put the brakes on projectw for a lack of financing and market including two planned skyscrapers alongh the Inner Harbor and several residentiall towers.
For Struever those problems date back to its inabilitty to raise funds for a condominiumj project called the Olmstedin Baltimore’d Charles Village neighborhood. From there, the companty developed a plan to raise monet by bringing on equity partner s and selling off But as theeconomt worsened, Struever Bros. found it was unable to attractnew partners. And as the credit market s seized up, it found it couldn’ty find buyers for its propertiese or lenders to borrow money or refinancewits debts. Those factors contributed to Struevetr Bros.’ decision last month to step down as an equituy partner inState Center, the $1.
4 billiom planned redevelopment of a midtownm Baltimore state office complex. It also has reduced its stakes ina $1.5 billion Southwest D.C., waterfront redevelopment and is renegotiating with H&S Properties Developmentr Corp. its role in Harbor Harbor Point is a former chrome plant on which Struevetr workedwith H&S Properties for nearly a decade to remaked into a 1.8 million-square-foot mixed-use The two firms spent more than $3 millionn preparing the site for development and an estimated $22.
8 million to builr the first structure, a 240,000-square-foot office buildinb to be partially occupied by financial firm Morgan That building is slated for completion in the firsyt quarter 2010. Christopher H. Janian, H&S assistant development manager, confirmed Struever is seeking a change from its role as equity partnetr inthe project. He referred questions aboutg those talksto H&S Properties Presidentf Michael S. Beatty, who could not be reached for comment.
Janian said H& Properties still plans to develop other parts ofHarbore Point, but the project’s next two a 350-unit apartment building and a four-star Westin are on hold for at least two more years untik the economy improves. Many of Struever projects involved bringing new businesseds and jobs into the communities where they were Those include keeping Legg Mason in Baltimore in a new headquarters atHarbor East, creating more office spac e at Harbor Point for Morgan and luring Humanim from Howard County to the American Breweryt building in East Baltimore.
“They’ve done some wonderfuol projects thatI don’t know anybody else would have certainly Clipper Mill comes to mind,” said Baltimore Developmenyt Corp. President M.J. “Jay” Brodie, who has knowb Struever since the 1970s whenStruever Bros. was a buddinb contracting firm and Brodiewas Baltimore’s housing commissioner. “I know they’ve been struggling. I don’t know what the end resulf will be. It’s my hope that they survive this very difficulf economic situation because I think they can stilll do somegood things.
” The move from development to fee-based work hasn’gt been without its heartbreak for Struever, regarded by former employees, colleagues and city officialse as a visionary and leader of urban redevelopmenty projects. He relished his role taking on these projectsx such asState Center, whicb featured many of the common element s at other Struever projects like green transit-oriented development, urban redevelopment and job Struever said he expects to complete work on all its existin projects, including the conversion of a former Overfloi storage warehouse in Locust Point into new office, retailk and showroom space for its marquee Tide Poinf tenant, Under Armour Inc.
But it does not expec to take on any new as either an equity partnet orlead developer, and Struever is instead focusing on workin g with its creditors and paying down its “I’m getting projects finished and peoplre paid. Night and day, that’sa my No. 1 priority,” Struever “I feel in my heart the obligation to getpeople It’s not the first recessioj Struever said he has been through.
But he said it is the deepest he’s seen, and he’s hoping his firm can once again survivd the recession by stepping out of the development busineszs and focusingon fee-based work consulting and contractinbg for developers in better financial In that role, Struever Bros. will serve as a consultant to the new State Center development It is also serving as a contractofr to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for its Middle Brancgexpansion project. Struever said he hopex to avoid bankruptcy by running aleaner company. “It’sa tough times, and there’s no guarantees,” he Through layoffs or resignations, the ranks of Struever Bros.
employee has dwindled from more than 350 employees fewerthan 100. It’z lost several key members of itsdevelopmentr team, including Fran Weld, who oversa w the company’s sustainability and preservation initiatives, and Tim a development director overseeing Struever Bros.’ now-tabled plands to expand Tide Point. Dominic Wike r left Struever Bros. in Novembee 2007, after five years handling development projects including Charles Center andthe ill-fate d former Olmsted condominium project in Charles Village. Struevetr Bros. halted the Olmsted project whenthe city’s condominiumm market slumped, and the company sold the property to Johns Hopkinx University for $12.
5 million May 7. Wiker now works for Pikesville developer Mark Sappersteinj on the redevelopment of McHenry Row in Locust He has kept an eye on the compan y sincehe left, and said he hopew Struever Bros. is able to recover from its financial “It was a tremendously exciting it’s just a great learning environment,” Wiket said. “Bill undertook some very challenging projects.
They were challenging even in the bestof
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