The Enclave of Federal Hill Begins Construction

Developers Steve Murphy and Steve Strohecker recently broke ground on The Enclave of Federal Hill, a 13-new construction townhome gated community at the former site of a machine shop and vacant lot facing W. Fort Ave., Clarkson St. and Race St. The development has been in the works since 2006 and has changed hands several times, including being bank-owned, before Murphy and Strohecker took over the project in 2013.

Four homes will be located on the 1500 block of Clarkson St., six will face the 100 block of W. Fort Ave., and three will be behind Fort Ave. along a newly-constructed gated courtyard. Unlike most new construction townhome projects, many of the homes at The Enclave will have basements with a great room, as the building demolished also had a basement.

There will be four different floor plans with some homes as large as 3600 sq. ft. All of the homes will feature first floor two-car garages and a first floor bedroom, as well as two or three additional bedrooms on the third floor. The second floor of the homes will feature the kitchen, living and dining rooms, and a powder room. The homes will offer up to 3.5 bathrooms, a fourth story wet bar, and luxury finishes throughout which buyers can customize. The homes will be built by locally-based Hawkeye Construction Company.

Buyers at The Enclave will be eligible for several incentives. The homes are listed with Jeff Washo of Prudential PenFed Realty. If buyers use Pentagon Federal Credit Union for their mortgage, they are eligible for up to $10K in closing cost help, as well as a 2.625% five-year adjustable rate mortgage. All new-construction Baltimore townhomes also feature a five-year property tax phase-in which is transferred to the buyers.

Murphy and Strohecker have been working with CSX and have agreed on a plan to clean up Race St. adjacent to the train tracks. They will be removing the existing jersey walls and adding a “No Crossing” sign at Race St. and Fort Ave., as well as low-growth plants between the street and the tracks.

“It’s going to make the whole corridor look better, continuing the aesthetic feel from The Yards of Federal Hill (development on the 1300 block of Race St.),” said Murphy.

Murphy and Strohecker also worked with architects and will be using recommended windows and insulation to reduce the sounds caused by the CSX trains.

“Right now there is a strong demand for new construction and people are always enthused at the opportunity to have a garage,” said Murphy.

The first homes at The Enclave at Federal Hill will be available around late spring/early summer and prices are expected to start in the $400,000s. The project is also one block from the proposed Stadium Square project.