Ruin Near The Block

photo by the blogger

The empty and city owned former Lobe Building at 15-17 S. Gay Street, just off The Block. Many of the windows are broken and has sat decaying for years. It serves as the northern end of a row of four vacant, but at one time beautiful thriving buildings on the east side of Gay Street that are city owned. 

On any other street near the Inner Harbor these might have been renovated years ago. especially do to its proximity to the Water Street condos across the street, and being two blocks from the Inner Harbor. Instead they are unfortunately situated around the corner from The Block, which needs no introduction. The seediness of which extends beyond the borders of the adult district to wither any development efforts in the immediate area (e.g. the 1st floor retail of One South Street has been empty since the building opened in 1991), or produce only low-brow retail. 

For a city that is all about improving its image, and at the same time striving for downtown development (see The Downtown Partnership's new video), why does it tolerate this? 

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