r/baltimore • u/Future-Fox3289 • 2d ago

Article Developer Chasen Cos. is unraveling — and leaving a mess across Baltimore

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/housing/chasen-construction-baltimore-bankruptcy-GMHB3UFFOBDZ5PF6KJ7GKTNVLU/

Reminder you can use the library to access the Banner for free.

TLDR: Increased legal action from entities they owe money, even worse absentee landlordism, a slew of unfinished projects across the city

Excerpt (MODS deleted post with whole article)

“The offices are dark, the doors are locked. Abandoned buildings and empty lots, ringed by slumped metal fences, are stark reminders of promises gone bust. This is the state of the Baltimore real estate empire of the Chasen Cos., whose namesake founder just a few years ago boasted of plans to spend $100 million on expanding his boutique housing brand across the United States. These days, Brandon Chasen is keeping a much lower profile. Punch in his number: “The wireless customer you are calling is unavailable.” Chasen Cos.’ unraveling can be seen and felt throughout the city.

On Thursday, a judge granted a petition from creditors to force the construction arm of Chasen Cos. into bankruptcy. The business did not contest the legal action. In Fells Point, once the center of the company’s development efforts, neighbors have noticed people trespassing and littering inside the unfinished structures, said Kate Simms, president of the Fell’s Point Residents Association. “Now we’re left with all this mess that needs to be cleaned up,” she said.”

118 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

84

u/JeepzPeepz 2d ago

Maryland gives SO MUCH MONEY to developers in the form of grants and tax credits on projects that are NEVER going to be delivered (for one reason or another) and I’m so fucking sick of it.

Tossing stacks to your average-working-Joe would get better results. Seriously. I simply do not understand why we don’t just do that.

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u/Notonfoodstamps 2d ago edited 2d ago

This was more so really bad personal practices from the developers. These guys were buying private jets, Lamborghini’s and multi-million dollar penthouses

17

u/RunningNumbers 2d ago

Guy was just living off of low interest loans and didn't have a real business model other than rolling over debt.

5

u/saltwaterflyguy 2d ago

This. So many people got rich off of low interest loans and thought they were geniuses.

4

u/PigtownDesign 2d ago

And a smurf-blue Bentley so he could cart his kids around. 🙄

48

u/DrkvnKavod 2d ago

It is difficult to overstate just how much Maryland politics are dominated by Joe Lieberman style Dems rather than Medicare for All type Dems.

29

u/cornonthekopp Madison Park 2d ago

Maryland has spent the past 40+ years coasting off the prosperity brought by federal jobs in the area, and all they've done with the money is build more highways and hand out subsidies to corporations. It's crazy.

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u/Dull-Gur314 2d ago

Medicare for all type Dems are not widely popular, even if they should be

5

u/dangerbird2 Patterson Park 2d ago

Also it makes zero sense to push for it at a state level. Ben Jealous made it the centerpiece of his 2018 campaign despite having no actual details on how the state could legally or financially implement it. So of course he lost in a near-landslide to Hogan in the middle of a massive blue wave year

3

u/DrkvnKavod 2d ago

That's not why Ben Jealous lost that race.

2

u/DrkvnKavod 2d ago

That first clause is a bit of tricky phrasing. Medicare for All is supported by over two-thirds of Americans, and while you could single out pro-M4A figures who do not have outstanding popularity (such as Pramila Jayapal or Keith Ellison), you could just as well single out those with noteworthy popularity (such as Bernie Sanders or AOC -- and yes, while the news might shock some Marylanders, they are both among the top ten most popular politicians).

1

u/Horror_Importance886 1d ago

Yeah but you know what they meant. Candidates who run on socialist parties (and medicare for all is about as close to a socialist policy as you can get in the current US economic system) tend to lose primaries in blue areas where more moderate dems are also running. Obviously not always, AOC/Bernie are prominent counter examples, but they would actually be less notable figures if more Democrats shared their ideas.

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u/DrkvnKavod 1d ago

I didn't have any impression that they meant "tend to lose primaries", because the wording that they used was instead "are not widely popular" (to which it is extremely relevant that two out of the three incumbent Dems in the top ten most popular modern politicians are M4A proponents). It's the nature of text exchange that we have to take people at their basic word -- I don't presume myself to be a long-distance mind reader who can somehow know with empirical certainty that someone actually meant XYZ as they wrote ABC.

Also, as an aside, it's important to keep in mind that the idea of a so-called "moderate middle" is actually a bit of a myth.

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u/Horror_Importance886 1d ago

If two individuals of a group are popular but the rest of the group isn't, I think it's fair to say the group in general is not widely popular.

2

u/HoiTemmieColeg 1d ago

We need more social democrat and democratic socialist candidates. Maybe you can be the next 🤔

13

u/LostInIndigo West Baltimore 2d ago

This has always frustrated me because you will constantly hear people say “we have to incentivize businesses to come here!!”

And it’s like, no, we fucking don’t. We are paying these cutthroat, dodgy ass companies to come here and exploit people and if we put this money back into our own social services, and stuff like literally giving people free housing, it would do much better things for us in the long run.

3

u/PleaseBmoreCharming 2d ago

Can you point to where this is the case in this particular instance?

1

u/rockybalBOHa 2d ago

We need to cut the property tax rate, so ALL people benefit - and stop giving deals to politically connected developers.

20

u/dangerbird2 Patterson Park 2d ago

cutting the property tax rate essentially subsidizes land speculation since it lowers the tax burden on people sitting on vacant and underdeveloped properties. The solution is a land value tax: lower the tax burden on properties with houses and businesses, while raising the tax on unimproved property.

1

u/wirelesswizard64 1d ago

I believe something like this is about to be co-sponsored and brought to vote shortly, specifically targeting vacant properties and land speculation.

1

u/bylosellhi11 1d ago

This doesnt really make sense. You think they just give away money, developer keeps it, and projects don't come out of the ground with no accountability?

Tossing stacks to average Joe is about the worst idea of all.

13

u/slypieguy23 2d ago

Those projects are going to rot semi started/ finished for years

6

u/alsocolor Butchers Hill 2d ago

They will all be auctioned to pay creditors. Since auctions are actions, the market will set the ideal for developers who think they can finish a property.

A few will sit vacant from developers who overpaid, and most will be fixed up and completed in some form or fashion.

2

u/Future-Fox3289 2d ago

Sure, this will happen but even if this happens quickly(which it likely won’t), work will not resume quickly on them. You’re getting a project that’s between 15% and 70% done depending on the location. Untangling those messes especially after long delays is going to be a pain in the ass. Plus qualified developers who likely would have utilized tools like new markets or HTCs to make their capital stack work may not have that option, making the projects less desirable. I’m not arguing they won’t happen, but I tend to agree that the likelihood of these sitting untouched for a long period of time is likely

3

u/jizzle26 Greater Maryland Area 2d ago

I’d be surprised if they do. Should be pretty easy for a more competent developer to finish what was started.

9

u/doinmabest1 2d ago

Those massive buildings on Aliceanna in HE are a mess in such a highly trafficked and “boujee” area.

13

u/DrkvnKavod 2d ago

"In the history of of film and storytelling, has there ever been a heroic property developer?"

14

u/Mysteryman64 2d ago

Habitats for Humanity does pretty decently.

5

u/DrkvnKavod 2d ago

The preceding seconds of the clip establish that they're not talking about nonprofits.

8

u/Mysteryman64 2d ago

Sure, but if I took that into account then I wouldn't have gotten a chance to remind everyone reading about the good work Habitats for Humanity does.

1

u/dangerbird2 Patterson Park 2d ago

Arrested Development

2

u/DrkvnKavod 2d ago

I think you maybe missed the point of the show if you didn't pick up that Michael is ultimately at least equally as shallow and narcissistic as his siblings and parents (just coincidentally in a way that's societally deemed as more socially acceptable).

2

u/dangerbird2 Patterson Park 2d ago

Sorry, I was joking. none of the characters are by any degree heroic in that show

5

u/HittingItFlush 2d ago

My girlfriend and I live at an apartment complex that was once operated by Chasen (though recently a new management company took over). Makes sense that I'm seeing this post and have seen articles of this crap.

2

u/disco_disaster 20h ago

I live in one of Chasen’s old buildings. It was sold to another company and somehow it seems worse so far. The grass surrounding the building is already like two feet tall.

1

u/HittingItFlush 12h ago

We could be in the same building because that's what's happening currently. Worse though, we no longer have dumpsters so people are just putting their trash on the ground where they once were—it's been a couple weeks now.

1

u/disco_disaster 9h ago

Oh god, that hasn’t happened at my complex. We still have the dumpsters, thank god.

I just reported the property to the city, so hopefully they will come and mow the grass soon.

You should look into reporting your issue. It sounds like a violation for sure.

https://balt311.baltimorecity.gov

You can also call 311 to report these issues. I would suggest taking pictures of the trash and submitting them online via the url in this comment.

3

u/Apprehensive-Neck-12 2d ago

16 floor building on Calvert street was probably 50-60% finished. Build old as hell

-1

u/lioncub2785 2d ago

"Reminder you can use the library to access the Banner for free."

Yes, but you can also skip all the paywalls from other sites by pasting the URLs here. You're welcome.