Cold Spring

Cold Spring Community Association

Coldspring is without a doubt Baltimore's youngest community. In the late 1960's, Baltimore City Government conceived of a bold plan to develop a complete new-town on 375 acres straddling Cold Spring Lane west of the Jones Falls. Moshe Safdie and Associates was retained in 1971 to coordinate the planning and design of Coldspring. while the site originally comprised several large estates and was largely undeveloped the steep-sloped topography and presence of quarries and a landfill presented the designer with a unique set of problems.

Plans called for the development of Coldspring of three distinct residential neighborhoods, each with its own neighborhood center, and a large town center along Cold Spring Lane. Approximately 2700 housing units are planned for Coldspring, as well as 150,000 square feet of office space and 300,00 square feet of commercial space. Four housing types were designed for Coldspring: the Townhouse (200 planned units), and Highrise Apartment Building (1,000 planned units); "Cluster Houses" (1,700 planned units), which are grouped along Coldspring's steep slopes, and "Deck Houses" (800 planned units), contiguous units which are built over their own enclosed parking facilities.

Presently, all development is taking place north of Cold Spring Lane. Approximately 250 Deckhouses are complete and mostly sold and occupied, ground has been broken, and 13 prototype cluster houses are under construction. Infrastructure planning and construction has begun on one of the three neighborhood centers, including 225 apartments, shops and offices and a parking garage. The projected completion date for Coldspring is 1995, at which time 230 acres of the site will be built, and 145 acres will be devoted to open space.