A Baltimore developer, along with city and state officials, held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning for a new, multimillion-dollar housing development at the site of the former Madison Park North Mall in West Baltimore.
The long-abandoned mall was known as “murder mall” in recent years before being demolished about six years ago. The rectangular site, which is the size of a few city blocks, is located in the 800 block of West North Avenue, and speakers at the ceremony repeatedly described it as a “gateway” to West Baltimore that will be critical to the revitalization of one of the city’s main corridors.
“We’ve been patiently waiting for this project to start for almost eight years,” said David Bramble, co-founder of MCB Real Estate, which is leading the project. “I am sure many of us doubted that this deal would ever get started. And I have to be honest with you: There were many times when doubt tried to creep into my mind as well.”
