Bridge Builders Award
Carl W. "Bill" Struever, President & CEO, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and Bank of America for their joint efforts in "Building Better Communities" throughout Baltimore and the East Coast through Smart Growth projects and neighborhood transformations.
It takes vision, perseverance, partners and financial acumen to bring change to urban markets. Carl “Bill” Struever and his firm, Struever Bros, Eccles & Rouse, Inc., have spent 30 years showing the country how to "Build Better Communities,” knitting urban neighborhoods together through adaptive reuse of what many simply view as obsolete buildings.
His vision has shown Maryland what smarter growth can do for their communities. His passion for fostering new opportunities has led him to serve on local civic organizations promoting business and economic development throughout the city such as “Digital Harbor,” a successful internet hub in Baltimore. He encourages volunteerism and created James Rouse Day, a community service day when his employees and community volunteers build new playgrounds or clean up neighborhood parks. His activism and commitment have helped create partnerships that have made the transformation of urban communities possible.
In the past few years alone, Bill Struever has worked with the Bank of America to transform forgotten, old or neglected landmarks of Baltimore’s urban fabric into brilliant jewels. It takes creative, committed financing to turn properties such as the American Can Company into a center for shopping, dining and high-tech commercial office use. With historic tax credits from Bank of America, Tide Point, a former Proctor & Gamble manufacturing facility, has been turned into a mixed-use housing and commercial space. Other landmark properties, such as The Clipper Mill and The Munsey Building, are being rehabilitated into mixed-use development as well.
Bank of America and Struever Brothers, Eccles and Rouse, Inc. are a true bridge builder team, working “out of the box” to improve communities, create affordable housing, and rehabilitate historic properties in Baltimore. Bill Struever’s continued efforts to fight for smart growth, innovative re-use of the symbols of America’s incredible industrial heyday, and tireless efforts to reach out to transitioning neighborhoods is an example we can all learn from in our own communities.