Byrnes to Convert Baltimore Hotel to Apartments
The property is located on the city's historic Redwood Street.
207 E. Redwood St. in Baltimore
Byrnes & Associates Inc., a Baltimore-based boutique real estate and investment firm, is leading the conversion of a newly acquired hotel in downtown Baltimore with plans to spend $18.5 million to convert the 10-story property into a 130-unit apartment building called Redwood Place.
The building at 207 E. Redwood St. was converted from an office building by Red Lion Hotels Corp. and operated as Hotel RL Baltimore Inner Harbor for approximately eight years. The Spokane, Wash.,-based hospitality company acquired the former Keyser Building for $15.7 million in 2015 and spent $3.5 million to redevelop and renovate the property as a hotel. The hotel closed late last year.
The new development group is led by Brad Byrnes and Kemp Byrnes of Byrnes & Associates and includes investors Jay Litke and Moe Krohn of Kove Group LLC, who will be the general contractors performing all construction activities; and investor/asset manager Brendan Ferrara of Carm Capital LLC. The group is starting the redevelopment immediately and anticipates the apartment building could be fully occupied within 18 months.
Property details
The building will be transformed into 130 studio, junior one-bedroom and one-bedroom units ranging from 400 to 800 square feet. According to Byrnes & Associates, the conversion from hotel to a multifamily configuration should require minimal construction. The group plans to add kitchens and washers and dryers to the units and transform the lobby café into a 3,300-square-foot restaurant that will be located at the intersection of Redwood and Calvert streets. The existing rooms already feature high ceilings, large windows and bathrooms with glass showers. Upgrades will include adding wood and tile flooring, modern fixtures and dressing-room sized closets.
Amenities already incorporated into the property include a fitness center, banquet room and conference rooms. A game room and storage space will be installed by the new owners.
Redevelopment strategy
Byrnes & Associates has already restored two nearby buildings—225 E. Redwood St. and 233 E. Redwood St—and repositioned and rebranded them to Vickers Exchange and Redwood Exchange, respectively, in a $5 million redevelopment strategy. The buildings include approximately 90,000 square feet of office and retail space and were acquired in partnership with local entrepreneur Dave Gupta. Since the repositioning was completed in 2020, Byrnes & Associates has signed 60 office and retail leases at the buildings and improved occupancy from 5 percent to 65 percent. One of the highlights of the repositioning was the opening of Werner’s Diner and Pub in 225 E. Redwood St.
Brad Byrnes said in a prepared statement that the firm has led approximately $25 million in investments in historic Redwood Street, and that their vision is to make historic Redwood Street, previously known as the “Wall Street of the South,” the new Main Street of downtown Baltimore. He said the conversion of 207 E. Redwood St. into apartments is the next evolution of the firm’s long-term strategy because renters bring energy into downtown areas and impact restaurants, retail, entertainment and sports venues and downtown attractions.
Byrnes stated the investments his group is making on historic Redwood Street complement other projects in the city including the $250 million redevelopment of CFG Bank Arena, the new $45 million Lexington Market and the pending multi-billion dollar plans for the Inner Harbor, Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium and University of Maryland Bio Park.
