re: (rshsdepot) Baltimore, MD

["Michael Bosak" <michael_bosak_@_hotmail.com>]

Amtrak stops in a tacky Amshack that is attached to the trainshed in Pitt - 
the vaulted former waiting room is essentially empty but for a few 
businesses that have offices off of it.  A sad waste of what should be  a 
wonderful public amenity.  Was just in Tacoma, WA, where they tactfully put 
in a courthouse addition, but left the waiting room as a wonderful public 
space. What a thrill!


>From: "Paul S. Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>
>Reply-To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>To: "RSHSDepot" <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
>Subject: re: (rshsdepot) Baltimore, MD
>Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 00:35:33 -0400
>
>I know it isn't a hotel and there is no connection to the tracks below any
>more, but the Penn Station in Pittsburgh that is so exclusive an apartment
>building that the public can't enter to admire the inside vaulted waiting
>room-Amtrak trains stop under it don't they?
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jim Dent <james.dent_@_itochu.com>
>To: RSHS List <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
>Date: Friday, August 10, 2001 9:03 AM
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Baltimore, MD
>
>
> >Via Bernie Wagenblast...
> >
> >Hotel planned in Penn Station; Amtrak, developer set to build 72 rooms in
> >next two years;
> >Expected to cost $5 million
> >By: Meredith Cohn
> >
> >Amtrak will open a 72-room hotel entirely inside Baltimore's historic and
> >increasingly busy Pennsylvania Station in the next two years, the 
>developer
> >and Amtrak confirmed yesterday.
> >
> >The developer, Columbia-based James M. Jost & Co. Inc., plans to begin
> >construction on a moderately priced hotel next summer and spend a year
> >converting second-, third- and fourth-floor offices into guest rooms. The
> >rooms will be accessible from an elevator in the train station's lobby.
> >
> >"The only change commuters will see from the lobby will be hotel 
>signage,"
> >said James M. Jost, the company's owner.
> >
> >A company formed by Jost will own the hotel and lease the space from
> >Amtrak - possibly the first arrangement of its kind for the passenger
> >railroad.
> >
> >A hotel flag, or brand, has not been determined, nor have room rates, 
>Jost
> >said.
> >
> >The developer said he was chosen about two years ago by Amtrak for the
> >project, which is expected to cost about $5 million. But he said that
>Amtrak
> >delayed the development because it was using the office space.
> >
> >About 100 police, customer service and maintenance workers will have to
>move
> >to other Amtrak offices in Baltimore.
> >
> >The developer has built hotels in Maryland and Virginia, including a
> >Residence Inn, Hawthorn Suites, Comfort Inn and Hampton Inn. Jost said he
> >had interest from hotel chains for the Penn Station project, but he
>declined
> >to identify the interested companies.
> >
> >He said the proposed Baltimore hotel was appealing because of its 
>location.
> >
> >"It's an attractive development in that there are demand generators 
>nearby
> >in the University of Baltimore and the existing railroad," Jost said. 
>"The
> >new (high speed) Acela train will produce a great increase in railroad
> >traffic."
> >
> >'A hotel could work'
> >
> >Rod Petrik, a managing director at Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. and hotel
> >expert, said a hotel could work inside Penn Station provided it is not 
>too
> >expensive, demand for rooms picks up in the next two years, and the area
> >surrounding the station improves.
> >
> >He said the planned hotel is not that big but could help the city when
> >conventions require more than Baltimore's 7,400 rooms at once. Often,
> >visitors must go to suburban hotels.
> >
> >But first, Petrik said, Jost will need to sign on a well-known flag to
> >attract lenders in a tough financing environment.
> >
> >"Provided he gets financing, I imagine that a hotel could work at the 
>right
> >price range," Petrik said. "It would become more of a success if the area
> >surrounding Penn Station revitalizes. I don't think there are many 
>tourists
> >or business people who would want to go outside and walk around there at
> >night right now."
> >
> >Physically, the hotel should not pose a problem. A study conducted for
> >Amtrak about three years ago by Einhorn, Yaffee and Prescott, a
> >Washington-based architectural and engineering firm, showed that a
> >moderately priced hotel was feasible without altering the building, which
> >was completed in 1911 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
> >
> >Amtrak spokeswoman Karen Dunn said the passenger railroad has been 
>looking
> >for ways to raise revenue because it is under a congressional mandate to
> >become self-sufficient by 2003.
> >
> >"This development is a terrific example of how Amtrak can leverage its
> >assets," she said. "Amtrak can provide other things besides rail 
>service."
> >Amtrak carries some freight and sells merchandise. Real estate 
>development
> >is planned at other train stations.
> >
> >Dunn said Philadelphia is the only other city in the Northeast corridor,
> >Amtrak's busiest, where a hotel is being considered. However, a hotel 
>there
> >would be adjacent to 30th Street Station. She said she couldn't think of 
>a
> >city with a hotel inside an Amtrak station.
> >
> >A record 13 million people rode Amtrak in the Northeast corridor - from
> >Washington to Boston - in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Penn 
>Station
> >was the 10th busiest in the nation.
> >
> >More changes
> >
> >The station has undergone other changes during the years. The lobby was
> >renovated in the 1980s, and an underground 550-space parking garage was
> >added in 1995. An outdoor plaza is nearing completion, and a road and
>bridge
> >project on Charles Street is slated for completion by the end of next 
>year.
> >
> >Also in the planning stages are a transportation center that would 
>include
>a
> >relocated Greyhound/Peter Pan bus station and a 330-car garage on the 
>block
> >north of the train station, linked to it by an enclosed skywalk.
> >
> >Bill Geschrei of Whitman, Requardt and Associates, a Baltimore
>architectural
> >and engineering firm that designed the plaza, said construction inside 
>the
> >station would not affect the changes made outside.
> >
> >M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp., the 
>city's
> >economic development arm, said Amtrak has not sought a city subsidy for 
>the
> >project.
> >
> >"It sounds like a nifty project, good for the city," said Brodie. "More
> >nifty because they haven't come to us yet."
> >
> >
>


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