Cambridge Harbor Progress Report: A Chat with CWDI’s Matt Leonard

“We believe, at Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc, that Cambridge can offer something unique to people who want to visit the Eastern Shore of Maryland,” said CWDI Executive Director Matt Leonard. “So, that’s what we’re aiming for, is to be unique enough that people are attracted to come to Cambridge and special enough that people will live at Cambridge Harbor and play at Cambridge Harbor, work at Cambridge Harbor.”

Leonard was talking about a new district that will be built on 30-plus acres along the waterfront. Designed to include public spaces, amenities, and events, it will focus on promoting Cambridge and Dorchester County’s history, heritage, and culture while creating a destination for tourism. CWDI, a nonprofit corporation formed through an agreement of the city, county, and state, is developing Cambridge Harbor in partnership with the community and will operate the complex as a place to live, work, and visit.

As Leonard pointed out, Cambridge has often been passed or cut through by people going from west to east. But Cambridge Harbor will be strategically placed at the gateway into the city. “And so we also have this sort of unique responsibility for those people who are driving through, to maybe get them to turn right as they come across the Highway 50 bridge for the first time and to explore Cambridge Harbor and through Cambridge Harbor to the Packinghouse and Downtown Cambridge and Pine Street and the West End Historic District.”

The project is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $350 million, with $50 million being the public investment for infrastructure and parks, to include a hiking-and-biking trail and roofed performance venue. The rest will come from the vertical developers building the boutique hotel, residential structures, and retail locations. In April, CWDI received a $1 million grant from the state for design and development, and that followed $1 million awarded in December through the Rural Maryland Development Fund. All told, CWDI has raised $13.2 million in project funds in the last 16 months.

These grants will be used for the detailed design work needed to estimate accurately the construction cost and how much more money needs to be acquired. CWDI has some construction dollars already, and they will shortly be building a new road on the south border of the park. This road will be able to handle traffic, but it will just as often be closed to serve as a pedestrian plaza.

Leonard emphasized that the designers of the complex have been mindful that whatever is done will honor the architecture, maritime history, and heritage of Cambridge and Dorchester County. As renderings have been coming in from potential partners, the designers have provided input to make sure they fit Cambridge’s character.

Another element the developers have had to keep in mind is protection against sea-level rise. CWDI has received guidance from expert institutions stating that the minimum building pad along the waterfront should be seven feet above sea level. So, they are making their own minimum nine feet above.

“There are places right along the waterfront that are lower than that,” said Leonard, “but that’s not where we’re building anything, and we don’t want to disturb the waterfront because that can do as much damage as trying to build it up to protect from a flooding event.”

Since long before the project to build Cambridge Harbor was announced, local citizens had been resistant to commercial space and housing at Sailwinds Park, and those feelings have continued. Leonard understands those concerns, since certain developments in the past, particularly those along Cambridge Creek, essentially cut off the public’s access to the water there. As result, it seems obvious that people are worried Cambridge Harbor will be more of the same. But CWDI is promising that the waterfront will always be open to the community. The biking-and-hiking trail will stretch all around that area, and the planned six-acre park will belong to the public all the time.

“In order to make that active and interesting enough for people to want to spend time in those public spaces, and also to be able to afford to maintain and activate those to the public’s benefit, you have to have vertical development around it, like hotels, residential, and retail, to do that,” said Leonard. “Because those are the ones whose dollars are going to pay to make sure the public spaces can be developed and activated for the community’s benefit.”

Still, some local businesses believe that Cambridge Harbor will not benefit downtown. In response, Leonard explained that the Harbor complex will bring in visitors who might not normally want to come to Cambridge. After those people experience the hotel, restaurants, bars, and other amenities, CWDI will make it their responsibility to encourage them to explore the downtown boutiques and restaurants as well as Historic Pine Street, the Packinghouse, and more. Part of the focus for CWDI is connectivity to those other parts of Cambridge through signage, wayfinding, intracity marketing, and even transportation.

“We want to be able to connect Cambridge Harbor with Long Wharf, with the Hyatt, with downtown, maybe a water taxi or some system there,” said Leonard. “We’ve had people who’ve expressed interest in doing that, and we want to be a part of that if we can.”

Besides the possible water transport, there may be a trolley or shuttle system.

Leonard discussed all this with considerable enthusiasm, revealing his affection for the city. After his spouse, Nancy, retired in 2019, they went looking for their “forever home,” and they fell in love with Cambridge at first sight. It was ideally located, on the water and within driving distance of their adult children. Plus, the Leonards are big believers in small-town America. They moved into a fixer-upper on Somerset Avenue in November 2019.

“Every day since, it’s only been better and better,” gushed Leonard, who joined CWDI in January 2022.

To make all of their plans happen, CWDI needs to spread word of their existence and drum up excitement. So, they’ve built out a Cambridge Harbor logo, tagline, signage, business cards, and a line of merchandise. Along with that, there has been the creation of a smaller campaign for the business side. This is significant, because it’s not been done for previous attempts to build on the waterfront. In fact, this is the farthest along the development has ever gotten.

Leonard credited the passion of the CWDI board; some of the members have been involved in these plans for decades. He also praised state-level champions at the Department of Housing and Community Development and the office of former Governor Larry Hogan, who were willing to invest significantly. Something else that accelerated CWDI’s mission was the Dorchester Hospital’s realization that the evolving business aspects of rural healthcare made the old facility inefficient, leading them to build their new medical center beside Cambridge Marketplace. As a result, CWDI had the opportunity to buy 17 of the 35 acres in its vision.

When the old hospital building was demolished, there was some local mourning and even outrage, and Leonard was sympathetic to that. “I do understand the sentimental attachment to a hospital that, for 120 years, birthed most of the people in this community and was there when most of them passed away and healed them. I just want people to understand CWDI did not force the hospital out. We wanted to make sure that property didn’t fall into the hands of a private master developer just to put condos all the way up to the water.”

Within the next 180 days, CWDI will announce some of the partners creating the vertical development at Cambridge Harbor. However, they’re still inviting interested parties to contact them. Construction on the complex is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year. Leonard believes it is realistic to assume that it will be finished and ready to open in five to ten years, as long as they keep finding the necessary funding and quality partners. And CWDI will be sticking around after development is completed.

“Part of our mission statement talks not only about developing Cambridge Harbor in ways to benefit the community but also sustaining it,” said Leonard. “We’re in it for the long haul.”