From Baltimore Daily Record writer Melody Simmons: "Down the street from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, two new clusters of luxury row houses are the latest addition in an ongoing revival of Greektown.
"The first five units of a planned 121 homes opened last month at O'Donnell Square on S. Macon St. Nearby on Dillon St., the 81-unit Athena Square development [pictured] is almost fully sold. Both projects sit near Greektown's tidy brick-paved streets that hold rows of 98-year-old houses.
"'I think Greektown is so rooted in its culture and the type of community that it is,' said Evangelia Dimas, 31, a paralegal who was born and raised in the community and four years ago bought and renovated a row house there.
"Dimas represents the old and the new in the neighborhood — which is what the community is striving to capture as it undergoes a renewal that so far totals about $20 million in new investment.
"The area's new housing — some of the few starts in Baltimore during the recession — is located close to the gentrified Brewer's Hill and the waterfront in Canton, and officials at builder Ryan Homes say they are using that geography to help sell the O'Donnell Square address.
"The McLean, Va.-based development company Kettler moved ahead to break ground on the O'Donnell Square townhouses last year. Luke Radlinski, director of land investments for Kettler, said, 'We think that they can probably sell 30 to 35 homes per year. What the neighborhood is seeing now is a lot of people moving into the neighborhood and/or the reinvestment in their homes by the Greek community.'" Full article here.