Construction starts on "One Westport" redevelopment in South Baltimore

A long-vacant stretch of waterfront property in South Baltimore is finally seeing signs of new life, after many years of planning.

A groundbreaking was held Tuesday on the 43-acre site along the Middle Branch Patapsco River in Westport.

The project, called " One Westport ," promises "a combination of townhouse homeownership, multi-family apartments both affordable as well as market rate, senior apartments, retail, office, public parks, waterfront promenade, and a multi-purpose public recreation field."

It's the latest effort to revive the industrial heart of Baltimore, and to make new use of the waterfront.

The 43-acre site was home for 114 years to the Carr Lowrey Glass Company , plus the Westport Generating Station , which have been shut down since the 1990s and early 2000s. The historic buildings have since been razed.

"One Westport" also ties into a broader vision for the entire waterfront in south/southwest Baltimore - called " Reimagine Middle Branch. "

That project describes itself as "a community-driven initiative to reconnect South Baltimore to its 11+ miles of shoreline along the Patapsco River."

Some parts of it are coming to fruition. The Middle Branch Resiliency project was recently launched, to install wetlands near MedStar Harbor Hospital in Cherry Hill.

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