{"id":9286,"date":"2014-03-10T05:00:53","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=9286"},"modified":"2021-02-03T15:37:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T23:37:29","slug":"building-bozzuto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/building-bozzuto\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Bozzuto"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JulieSmith.Still002\"
Julie Smith has been with Bozzuto for almost 25 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a crisp mid-fall morning, the delicious smell of baking English muffins wafts from the Mid-Atlantic Baking Company out over the row houses and taverns of Fell\u2019s Point, a historic Baltimore neighborhood in the city\u2019s Inner Harbor. People are walking their dogs along the waterfront, the trees are pleasant hues of red and gold, and on South Wolfe Street, a new community is just waking up.<\/p>\n

The Bozzuto Group\u2019s Union Wharf is the newest luxury apartment enclave in Fell\u2019s Point. It abuts the harbor, with rental slips for pleasure boats available right outside. Its interior and exterior finishes draw inspiration from the historic seafaring lifestyle that created this charming community, now resurrected with popular bars, restaurants, shops, galleries, and many apartment homes.<\/p>\n

Just across the street from Union Wharf is the Red Star, now a modern tavern serving lunch, wine and cocktails, but once a destination for sailors whose ships had docked in the harbor, and they could follow red stars painted on the sidewalk to find a thirst-quenching libation or perhaps the company of a lady of the night.<\/p>\n

Long gone are the days of sailors and brothels, but some of the best bits of Fell\u2019s Point \u2013 and Union Wharf \u2013 honor the very far past.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe designed it to fit into the community. We have reclaimed floors, beams from shipyards, we\u2019ve got lots of industrial finishes here,\u201d said Julie Smith, President of the Bozzuto Management Company, as she sits near a full-length plate glass window looking out on Wolfe Street, with the Red Star right across the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really designed this to capitalize on the views and to feel comfortable and casual, but at the same time to pay homage to the community that it\u2019s in. We think it\u2019s a reflection of the Fell\u2019s Point community and the history of the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith and the entire Bozzuto team are very proud of Union Wharf, and rightly so. Now halfway complete and occupied, the project was a challenge to design and build. Situated on a narrow strip of land that was previously a parking lot, the 280 units, plus nearly 6,000 square feet of retail and a parking garage, are shoehorned into the unusual property configuration but still manage to maximize the harbor views. Some of the apartments overlook an infinity lap pool that stretches from the lobby right out to the boardwalk.<\/p>\n

\"Fells
Fells Point is a hotspot for dining and nightlife after dark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe construction trailer was on a floating barge,\u201d Smith recalls. \u201cIt was a very complicated project, on a long skinny site, so everything about it was hard. The design was difficult, the unit plans were tricky, even trying to figure out where to put the front desk was challenging. It was a unique site to stage, an intriguing site to design, and\u00a0 it was hard to build, too. Now we look back and it\u2019s a gorgeous property, very unique, but it was a lot of work to get here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith has come to Baltimore on a Monday morning for several meetings, including her interview with us. She\u2019s impeccably dressed in an eggplant-colored suit and heels and looks as though she could be about to anchor a nightly news program on CNN. Just a year away from marking 25 years of work at Bozzuto, she\u2019s helped build and lead a company that has continued to be known for its boutique management style, even as the portfolio size has grown from 2,000 units to nearly 40,000.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Smith was recognized as one of the multi-family industry\u2019s most successful executives by Multifamily Executive, an honor she describes as \u201coverwhelming,\u201d especially when people she hadn\u2019t seen in years began to reach out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really excited by the number of people that I was able to connect with and reconnect with that I hadn\u2019t seen in a long, long time. It really brought a lot of people out of the woodwork,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That there were so many people anxious to congratulate Julie is no surprise to Lisa Williams, the company\u2019s Vice President of Strategic Business Solutions and Smith\u2019s very first hire at the company 24 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t forget anybody\u2019s name, what company they are with, or even their children\u2019s names. She genuinely cares about the people she works with,\u201d said Williams, who clearly enjoys the chance to spend several extra hours of time in the presence of her boss. Smith\u2019s travel schedule is hectic, and she is not only an executive, but a part-time professor and mentor at the University of Maryland, a mother to two teenage daughters, and a horsewoman, cyclist and dog owner who loves the outdoors.<\/p>\n

Even Smith admits that her friendly and outgoing nature can be a bit much at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids get mad at me because I talk to absolutely everybody that I meet. But that is my nature, to be friendly and outgoing. I enjoy getting to know people, and I really enjoy getting to know the people on our Bozzuto teams,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n