A $10 billion plan for a ‘Baltimore Renaissance’
Virginia developer has a vision for revitalizing city neighborhoods
A little-known Northern Virginia developer has what he calls a $10 billion idea for revitalizing Baltimore by making a nonprofit he would establish the master planner for dozens of construction projects to be executed and paid for by other developers.
A self-described boutique developer, real estate investor and urban planner, Kahan S. Dhillon Jr. will get a chance to pitch his idea, dubbed The Baltimore Renaissance, next week before a City Council committee, but the number is so eye-popping and Dhillon is such an unknown quantity that the proposal has drawn skepticism from some local officials and real estate professionals who have made a living building in Baltimore.
“In Baltimore we are not lacking plans,” said Klaus Philipsen, a Baltimore architect. “We are lacking capital.”
William H. Cole, president and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corp., the city’s development agency, met with Dhillon about six months ago. While he said he appreciates Dhillon’s enthusiasm, he didn’t know what to make of his plan.
“There isn’t a project he can point to [that] we could look at and say this makes sense or doesn’t,” Cole said.
In Dhillon’s vision, the city would contract with him and The Baltimore Renaissance nonprofit he intends to form to lead a citywide master planning effort that could take three years and cost $3 million.
Dhillon acknowledged that he’s a new face in Baltimore, but said his experience serving on a strategic planning committee for Tysons Corner and involvement in other business groups gave him the skills he needs to spur the city’s growth. After spending the last year meeting with hundreds of city residents, community leaders and politicians, he said he’s learned enough about Baltimore to shepherd in a wave of game-changing development.
“Baltimore is in a state of tremendous flux,” said Dhillon, 37, noting the city’s budget gap, homicide rate, drug problems and Police Department issues. “It is on the precipice of slipping further down or having something that’s going to lift it up. This is, we do believe, without a question, a springboard for Baltimore to move forward.”