Demolition work is underway at the old Hendler Creamery site in Jonestown

Demolition work is underway at the former Hendler Creamery site after developer Kevin Johnson failed to move forward with a $75 million plan to repurpose part of the building into apartments.

The 1892 building, located at 1100 E. Baltimore St., was home to the Hendler Ice Cream Company and was an annex to Baltimore’s historic Jonestown neighborhood.

Johnson, head of Hanover’s Commercial Group, had proposed retaining two of the building’s exterior walls and building a “building within a building” called The Hendler, with 296 apartments, a garage and street-level commercial space.

Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architecture Preservation (CHAP) approved the plan in 2017, clearing the way for Johnson’s Hendler Creamery Development LLC team to begin construction. Panelists praised Johnson for bringing a preservation-focused approval to the development.

The Baltimore Street Building, designed by Jackson Gott and others, was built to power the city’s then-nascent cable car system and was converted into a theater in 1903. In 1912, the Hendler Ice Cream Company converted it into the nation’s first fully automated ice cream factory. Hendler remained in operation into the 1970s.

But after some of the site was cleared and part of the Hendler structure was demolished, Johnson’s crew halted work in 2018 and abandoned the construction site, leaving behind a rubble-strewn lot, its facade held up by steel reinforcements.

In 2023, with no development activity after six years, the preservation committee was informed that Johnson wanted to sell the partially demolished building and land and that he needed CHAP approval to do so.

The buyer is Helping Up Mission, a nonprofit headquartered at 1029 E. Baltimore Street, directly across the street from the tilted facade. According to its website, Helping Up Mission is a Christian nonprofit that “provides hope to people experiencing homelessness, poverty, and addiction by meeting their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs,” and it runs programs out of several properties in Jonestown.

CHAP was informed that Helping Up Mission wanted to demolish the remainder of the Hendler building to make way for a public green space, and that the contract to purchase the property was contingent on the city issuing a demolition permit.

Because the property is located in a historic district, CHAP approval was required to issue the city’s permit. On June 13, 2023, the preservation panel voted 8-1 to authorize the demolition of the remainder of the Hendler structure. Actual demolition work began earlier this summer. As of this week, state land records indicate the property is still owned by Johnson’s group, Hendler Creamery Development LLC.

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