Baltimore-based Seawall Development converting historic buildings into teacher apartments

With their second project teed up and ready for rehab work to begin next year, Baltimore's Seawall Development Corp., led by father-son team Donald and Thibault Manekin, is beginning to carve out a niche for itself. The company is leading the way in the redevelopment of historic city buildings as office space for nonprofits and housing for teachers, a market that the elder Manekin calls "the people and organizations underpinning the success of the city."

At a City Council meeting Monday night, a bill was introduced, at Seawall's request, to approve a zoning change for Union Mill, at 1500 Union Ave. in Hampden, an 86,000-square-foot mill building that has been vacant for two years. The developers want to convert the mill into 54 apartments, along with 30,000 square feet of office space and 6,000 square feet for a possible retail use.

The project is modeled on Miller's Court, a similar redevelopment project that Seawall completed last year. There, the Manekins converted the historic Census Building at the corner of Howard and 26th streets in Baltimore into a $19...