A once-abandoned warehouse in the Station North Arts District has been reborn as an artist’s headquarters and workforce housing.
The Trenton Art Garage is the name of a renovated building at 101 E. Trenton St. that will contain the home of Graham Projects and eight apartments priced below market rate.
Graham Projects was founded by Graham Coreil-Allen, the artist and businessman who leads a team that’s responsible for many of the eye-catching crosswalk designs that have appeared at street intersections around the city.
The revitalization project is a collaborative effort between Graham Projects, Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP), the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund, and developer/architect Tamir Ezzat of ddbWorkshop.
The three-story building was a horse stable and auto upholstery factory before it was abandoned and sat vacant for decades. The Trenton Art Garage team bought it in 2021 for $250,000 and invested nearly $1 million to refurbish it as a model for sustainable, community-driven adaptive reuse.
The ground floor is a commercial studio that will be Graham Projects’ new headquarters. The upper floors contain a mix of one-bedroom and studio apartments, intended for tenants who earn below 80 percent of the area’s median income.
Construction began Aug. 1, 2024 and completion is expected by May 1. Coreil-Allen is both the anchor tenant and a co-owner; Ezzat is the architect. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on Tuesday, April 29, at 11 a.m.
Placemaking features
As part of the makeover, Coreil-Allen and his team wrapped the building with vibrant placemaking features, including a 100-foot mural, and transformed the adjacent alley into a pedestrian-friendly public space. In collaboration with local residents, Graham Projects is planning a large-scale traffic calming street mural, planters, a kiosk, bike parking, outdoor seating and safety improvements. The goal is to turn a once-neglected alley into an inviting, art-filled urban setting that will help bring people together all year long.
The project aligns with the Station North Arts District Public Space Plan, helping to reclaim public areas for community use while elevating public art, walkability, and neighborhood pride.
“The Trenton Art Garage opening is one step in the tangible implementation of the Station North Economic Development Roadmap authored by HR&A [Advisors] in partnership with CBP and the Johns Hopkins University in 2023,” said Jack Danna, Director of Commercial Revitalization for CBP, in a statement.
HR&A Advisors is an economic development firm that advises clients seeking to solve complicated urban real estate challenges. It’s focused on developing vision and economic development roadmaps for downtowns and inner city commercial corridors.
Doubling down on Station North
If fully realized, the roadmap for Station North will constitute a total of $350 million in new investment in the Arts District, Danna said. “Graham Projects is doubling down on Station North, not just by moving its headquarters here but by taking ownership in a once-forgotten structure and filling it with life, purpose, and possibilities. It’s what we love to see, and why we do what we do.”
“We knew we needed a home base to grow our work,” Coreil-Allen said, in a statement. “Thanks to the support of Central Baltimore Partnership and collaborator ddbWorkshop, this vision has become reality — creating not just a workspace for our team, but also much-needed housing and a place for public art to flourish.”
The Trenton Art Garage redevelopment was made possible by grant support from the Central Baltimore Partnership and lending from the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund. The project is approved for Baltimore City historic tax credits and National Park Service Historic Preservation tax credits. The development team worked with members of the Charles North community and the Greenmount West land use committee to get their support for the zoning relief needed before the city would issue a building permit.
“This project came with no shortage of challenges — that’s a big part of why the building sat vacant for so long,” Ezzat said in a statement. “Working with a historic structure like this meant navigating complex constraints, from preservation requirements to structural limitations. We had to think outside the box to not only make it work for Graham Projects’ headquarters, but to ensure the building could have a sustainable future for the next 100 years. It wasn’t easy, but I believe we’ve achieved something special. We’re incredibly grateful that Graham trusted us to bring his vision to life.”
“This project stands as a beacon of what is possible when artists, developers, and communities come together with a shared vision: to reimagine space for the public good,” Danna said.
