Reservoir Hill- has it changed any in 10 years? (Baltimore, Mount Vernon: for sale, real estate)

[L in sobo]

I just was wondering- anyone living in Reservior Hill or the surrounding area could answer this- has Reservoir Hill changed any in the past 10 years or so? I drove over there in 2003-2004 looking at houses when I was considering buying in the Bolton Hill/Reservior Hill area and we were offered drugs by a crew (they actually chased our car on Callow Ave that day totally freaking us out).
We drove over there today and not one but THREE crews on different blocks, in freezing cold temps, yelled to us, offering to sell us drugs. I was sorta surprised because I have read that the neighborhood has been improving. It is a totally shame because that is a beautiful neighborhood.
On a side note- we checked out the Babe Ruth muesuem for the first time which was great- being able to hold a Babe Ruth bat was pretty cool. Then we tried to find the Edgar Poe house which we must have driven past without noticing it. I knew it was closed but I was just trying to locate it. Tough neighborhood over there in west Baltimore.

Thanks in advance for any responses... today was quite an adventure.

[barante]

When Adams Meister, the civic activist and gadfly, launched a movement to take back a block on Linden years back, I went to visit him. As I approached his house, I saw a car slowing down and a transaction completed right in front of my eyes. So that hasn't changed.

Is it worse than ten years ago? Who knows. But as the neighorhood keeps improving -- and overall Reservoir Hill is, although much needs to be done -- a curious thing happens. White suburbanites on a mission feel safer and so may the dealers.

As a result of the real estate mess, prices in Reservoir Hill are quite realistic. I am sure the trend will be upward.

[L in sobo]

Well, I hope you are right. It would be a shame to lose those homes to vacancy and disrepair ..

I see a home listed today on Linden for $250,000... and others on Park for $300,000 +. I am sure they are outstanding properties but the neighborhood has serious crime. I would be interested in moving over there to acquire more space then our tiny little south Baltimore rowhouse- but I cant justify those prices or the crime. I was hoping for a deal- and we are considering Union Square but we still have more research to do. After I little trip to Reservoir Hill again- that neighborhood is not going to work for us.

[Tallybalt]

Better than a decade ago? Yes. The core blocks between Park and Mount Royal are stable, especially Reservoir and Linden streets and Mount Royal Terrace. These houses are mostly occupied by long-term homeowners. There's been a slowly creeping pace of reinvestment in the blocks just west of Park Avenue.

Eutaw Place has seen a fair amount of reinvestment and sensitive renovations.

The great swathe between the two borders is still problematic. The public housing project along North and Park Avenue is still a constant source of problems for the neighborhood. On the whole Reservoir Hill is better off when compared to a decade ago but it still has a long way to go. The obstacles are real for in addition to the crime/schools the market for the Reservoir Hill houses is limited. The area isn't hip like Hampden or popular like Canton and the houses, while much bigger, are perhaps ironically too big to appeal to young singles and couples who should constitute the ideal demographic of homebuyers for the neighborhood. Families aren't interested because of the schools and historic-minded people will be turned off by that so many of the houses in the interior have suffered badly due to decades of neglect and shoddy rehabs and have little redeeming virtues in terms of the interior architectural detailing commonly found in Bolton Hill or Mount Vernon.

If I were looking for a long term investment I'd focus on Charles Village South between Hopkins and North Avenue. That midtown area is ripe for major revitalization over the next few decades. Reservoir Hill is perhaps just a bit too much off the beaten path, which is unfortunate.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by Tallybalt

Better than a decade ago? Yes. The core blocks between Park and Mount Royal are stable, especially Reservoir and Linden streets and Mount Royal Terrace. These houses are mostly occupied by long-term homeowners. There's been a slowly creeping pace of reinvestment in the blocks just west of Park Avenue.

Eutaw Place has seen a fair amount of reinvestment and sensitive renovations.

The great swathe between the two borders is still problematic. The public housing project along North and Park Avenue is still a constant source of problems for the neighborhood. On the whole Reservoir Hill is better off when compared to a decade ago but it still has a long way to go. The obstacles are real for in addition to the crime/schools the market for the Reservoir Hill houses is limited. The area isn't hip like Hampden or popular like Canton and the houses, while much bigger, are perhaps ironically too big to appeal to young singles and couples who should constitute the ideal demographic of homebuyers for the neighborhood. Families aren't interested because of the schools and historic-minded people will be turned off by that so many of the houses in the interior have suffered badly due to decades of neglect and shoddy rehabs and have little redeeming virtues in terms of the interior architectural detailing commonly found in Bolton Hill or Mount Vernon.

I think the biggest thing holding Res Hill back is the complete lack of businesses. There's no businesses to walk to!

[KLynch10]

I do think Reservoir Hill has improved for sure, but there is a long way to go and public enemy #1 is still alive and well. That is Madison Park North... a virtual wall of China separating Res Hill from Bolton Hill, MICA and the slowly emerging North Ave to the East. Madison Park North, dubbed Murder Mall, is one of the worst apartment complexes in the city highlighted by liquor and other crap stores that lead to loitering. Madison Park North is supposed to be shut down, but it is still hung up in court and hasn't happened yet.

If that place comes down... which it will, and turns into a Fitzgerald/McHenry Row type complex... then watch out... Res Hill becomes a really hot neighborhood and is infused into the artist community of midtown Baltimore.

Reservoir Hill offers an interesting opportunity, which is a chance to own an amazing Mansion in the city. It's a gamble, but if a few things fall the right way and you plan to live there for a while and have city smarts... the gamble could pay off huge an you'll have more space than anyone would ever need. I'll say this much... no one can say that in Fed Hill, Canton, Fells and so on.

[remstone]

Improved? Lord yes.

Sure it's not too hard to find drug dealers, especially if you're driving around slowly with your head on a swivel. Blocks around Madison Park North and the deli/laundry/liquor store corner are still tough, and lots of residents are eagerly awaiting a resolution to the MPN court appeals. The story is a lot different on the good blocks.

What's changed: instead of the stupid speculation of the 2003-2007 era, prices make a bit of sense. That is to say they're a bit under-priced, even given that you don't have businesses to walk to and you can see drug dealing on some blocks. Meanwhile there have been a lot of rehabs that happened, but not all of them great. And a bunch of investors and banks lost a lot of money to get us to this point. For the last couple years Healthy Neighborhoods has been subsidizing some great homeownership properties and stabilized the market. Two years ago no one was touching them; now they sell before they hit the market. Of course you also don't see the crazy bargains of a year or two ago.

Also there are more homeowners and less vacants. Yes you can drive down two blocks of Callow and the number of vacants won't look that different than 10 years ago, thanks to the complete failure of one developer who bought 15 of them from the city and didn't do anything with them. But basically every other block has shown improvement. On the best blocks like Mount Royal, Eutaw, and Madison there's hardly anything for sale. Reservoir, Newington, and much of Linden are far better than they were. Even Callow looks much better and doesn't have the dealing it used to. The large apartment buildings right in the middle next the farm are getting fixed up and occupied. Oh right, and there's now an awesome Whitelock Farm.

You're making a jump as an outsider by saying "crime" when you really just mean drug-dealing. Not that anyone here likes dealing, but the presence of other crimes is pretty low for an urban neighborhood. Walking around on the streets is not a problem. There are now a good number of art students from MICA who didn't used to look over here for housing. I hesitate to say it's safer than Bolton Hill but I don't hear about random muggings in this neighborhood. Maybe there is something to the "drug dealers feeling safer" as well, though a bit more undercover police work would be nice.

Basically it's been steady progress until maybe 2009, a bit of a lull for a couple years, and things improving again now, especially from the standpoint of the housing market making sense.



FYI the $250k Linden property is a 3-unit, not that that's a bad price for a good single family. If you really need a bargain then something like this on Lennox is one if you can wait out Madison Park North a bit longer:
726 LENNOX St, BALTIMORE, MD 21217 | MLS# BA7992019 | Redfin
Or this on Reservoir if it doesn't need too much work:
705 RESERVOIR St, BALTIMORE, MD 21217 | MLS# BA7926896 | Redfin
OR this on Eutaw if you finish off a couple rooms:
2427 EUTAW Pl, BALTIMORE, MD 21217 | MLS# BA7745556 | Redfin

[Woodlands]

What I think needs to happen (and I think it probably will at some point following the disposition of MPN) will be MICA and to a lesser extent UB taking an active interest in the neighborhood. As other have mentioned... MICA students are already residing here... I think if the school and small developers that have a keen eye for small studio apartments that would appeal to MICA students, faculty, and et al start promoting the area.. that may push it in the right direction. Res Hill from what I understand has a pretty active neighborhood association. I would approach MICA and the City to see if a program similiar to whats being pioneered by JHU around their homewood campus could be created where the school is investing in the surrounding neighborhood. MICA could ease the transition for students by offering a shuttle up into Res Hill in partnership with a developer that builds housing/studio units for students and start the slow transistion process block by block from there... I am sure others will follow since there is already a general interest in the area.. just that no one wants to be first or feel that they will be going at it along....... Oh did I mention MPN will likely need to go.. in addition to my longtime foe... Linden Liquors...

[L in sobo]

What great responses.... your note "head on a swivel" made me laugh. I was definitely looking around the neighborhood- that might have been a cue to the dealers that I was looking for something. They were probably just trying to help.

I love the old mansions- we went to the Union Square cookie tour this year and I fell in love with the houses- just want to be sure that I can handle the neighborhood. Reservoir Hill has always been intriguing to me so I will keep my eye out.

Thanks again guys!

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by L in sobo

What great responses.... your note "head on a swivel" made me laugh. I was definitely looking around the neighborhood- that might have been a cue to the dealers that I was looking for something. They were probably just trying to help.

I love the old mansions- we went to the Union Square cookie tour this year and I fell in love with the houses- just want to be sure that I can handle the neighborhood. Reservoir Hill has always been intriguing to me so I will keep my eye out.

Thanks again guys!

Yeah just dont do a "double take" when eyeing things in any drug area... I made that mistake one time.. I wasnt even looking at the 'individual' but at a home that was for sale in the block where he was standing.. Unfortunately.. he thought I was eyeing him.. which in Baltimore could prove fatal. By the time I got to the top of the street...I looked in my rear view mirror and there must have been a half dozen people all standing on the street next to that guy craning their necks to see if they recognized me, my car, in an effort to find out what in the hell I may have been up to.....all because of a double glance.......

I hate to think how many people in Baltimore are killed by misunderstandings or mistaken identity. Those guys probably thought I was somebody looking for one of them for whatever dubious purpose...since most drug dealers probably have *gasp* enemies.. . The rule of thumb for a baltimore drug dealer.. "shoot first...ask questions later..."...I am just glad my wife called it to my attention.. because had I not been made aware.. I was going to loop back around to get a second look at that house.... I bet you all would have been watching the news and seen my bullet riddled car and just assumed it was a drug deal gone bad....