Historic Tobacco Warehouse

About the Tour

Cross Street Partners (CSP) is partnering with BECS Investing to redevelop the 23,000 square foot historic tobacco warehouse, located in East Baltimore, into an active, mixed-used LEED Gold building that will house a lively mix of small businesses, non-profits, and makers. The Tobacco Warehouse was constructed for leaf tobacco storage circa 1875 by Becker Bros., a Baltimore firm formed by German immigrants. Under the ownership of Gieske & Niemann from 1900 to the World War I era, the warehouse continued its use for tobacco storage and housed a cigar making operation on the second floor. Since the early 20th century, the building has been a warehouse for the Baumgarten & Co. toy manufacturers and stationers’, an upholstery shop, a roller skating rink, a mattress factory, cabinet makers, a furniture repair shop, and artist and maker studios. It’s proximity to the railway line and Gay Street, East Baltimore’s main commercial and industrial corridor, made the Tobacco Warehouse convenient for importing and exporting raw and finished materials. The warehouse exemplifies the industries typical of East Baltimore from after the Civil War through the middle of the twentieth century.