Son of congressman making his mark as developer in city
“I believe that the growth of the city in its neighborhoods can provide resources. The growth helps us accomplish impactful missions, things like recreation centers and affordable housing.” — Developer Chris Mfume
Chris Mfume, son of U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, is 32 years old and has already made his mark in development. He’s a developer with an eye on inclusion while preserving Baltimore’s neighborhoods.
A few weeks ago, he opened a new, 149-unit, $33 million apartment house built on the footprint of the old Epstein’s Highlandtown department store warehouse.
It’s called Hohm Highlandtown and faces Bank and Grundy streets. He worked with partners Doug Schmidt and Richard Manekin, who also mentored him in what it takes to get something built dovetailed around the edges of historic shopping and eating streets.
He likes that one of the first units leased went to a Baltimore City Police officer.
“This is meant to be attainable housing and it serves the people who make the city run,” he said.
He began as a 22-yearold on the ground floor of the large Baltimore building project now known as Harbor Point, a former brownfield that once housed an old chemical and chromium plant.
He signed on with Michael Beatty, the developer who is now completing Harbor Point and began the refurbishment of Pennsylvania Station about a year ago. He recalled tailing Beatty to a half dozen meetings at City Hall and Cross Keys and finally landed a job through persistence.
“When we got there, we worked out of an old Honeywell building that soon got torn down. Building our first component, Exelon Building, was exciting and it was a learning experience. I got involved with the design, permitting, construction and financing because it was a small firm.”
“I was privileged to be mentored by people like Beatty, David Bramble, Dan Henson and Larry Jennings,” he said of other builder-developers now active in the transformation of Baltimore.
Mfume co-developed the Saint James, a Howard and Franklin Street restoration of the old Hecht Brothers furniture store.
He’s a partner on the restoration of Crook Horner Lofts (also known as Pollack’s furniture) at Howard and Saratoga streets, an in-progress roomy apartment-work space remake of this venerable commercial building. He’s partnering with New York developer Alan Bell.
“Chris is a dynamic young man who is learning as much as he can as fast as can,” said Bell. “Development is a complicated business and you have to jump in and learn it. You learn more by doing.”
He is building 75 units of affordable housing in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Mfume speaks of Baltimore’s position about 40 miles from Washington, D.C.
“I lived in a D.C. for several years,” he said. “We should all benefit from this corridor of commerce.”
As for the money needed to get these projects accomplished, Mfume says, “There is a lot of wealth here that is quiet. It belongs to people who care about the region.”
“I believe that the growth of the city in its neighborhoods can provide resources. The growth helps us accomplish impactful missions, things like recreation centers and affordable housing.
“We build housing in traditionally distressed neighborhoods, diverse neighborhoods that have not seen investment.”
He is about to undertake a new project on the emerging Central Avenue corridor, a kind of dividing line between Little Italy and Fells Point .
Mfume grew up in Catonsville and graduated from McDonogh School, where he came under the sway of his beloved English and drama teacher, John Van Meter, a Dickeyville resident who encouraged him to make a difference.
“John looked out for me and took a liking to me. He was one teacher I really connected with,” he said of his time at the school, just before he went on to graduate from Wake Forest University.
Mfume is a proponent of the city’s new spaces for living. He has lived at the Anthem House in Locust Point and now resides in a Harbor Point apartment.
He says he chose a unit that faces the city, not the harbor.
“Oddly enough I like seeing the cranes and the ongoing construction take place. It’s a perfect view for me. I can see the projects I worked on years ago in the planning state. Baltimore is real. It’s got culture and it’s got character.”