Southern Management's 39 West Lex - New Website & Hot Floorplans Now Online

I've been watching the progress at the old BG&E building on the corners of Fayette, Liberty and Lexington Streets for many months with some sense of awe. The grand dame of a structure has been receiving some tender loving care at the hands of some amazingly skilled workers by way of it's conversion from an office building, built in 1916, to new apartment homes known as 39 West Lex.

David Hillman and his Southern Management Co., under the supervision of the National Park Service, are restoring the 22-story, neoclassical building to the standards of the National Register of Historic Places. (Jacob and I belong to the National Trust for Histoic Preservation. Trust me, such a project is not easy and, for a project of this size, is blazingly expensive.)

Today I had my first look at the online floorplans. I'd feared that, to maximize income, there would be many, many small apartments per floor as is the case in quite a few historic conversions. Oh, that's not the case here. The building has a true penthouse level with 2-bedroom + den units, on two floors, topping out at a startling 1799 square feet. The entire project has a maximum of 10 units per floor.

And, no creaky spiral staircases here. At 39 West Lex you get the real deal.

By way of total disclosure, we live in a Southern Management property, the Park Charles, and have no plans of moving anytime soon. What Hillman's company has done to improve the unban landscape of downtown Baltimore requires some serious loyalty. Besides, young Mr. Oliver loves the view.