[youtube id=”69yPvYCIHo4″]
As the new year begins, Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc. (CWDI) is accelerating efforts to revive the long-stalled Cambridge Harbor project, with a commercial broker now engaged to market developable parcels and momentum building toward a boutique hotel as the project’s anchor.
Board President Angie Hengst and Chief Administrative Officer Tracy Ward, who joined in November 2025, say the volunteer-led organization has turned a corner after years of delays, litigation, and transparency concerns.
“We’re at that tipping point where we’re really moving forward,” Hengst said in a recent Spy Interview. “We feel right now we’re at that tipping point where we’re really moving forward.”
The 31-acre waterfront site along the Choptank River aims to blend public amenities with mixed-use development: a central park, enhanced beach and promenade (now open with benches, tables, and paths), walkable streets, a hotel, restaurants, and residential/commercial parcels. The plan adheres to new urbanist principles, emphasizing accessibility and community use.
A key step: CWDI sought proposals for a commercial broker in September 2025, with the offering memorandum slated for early 2026. Hengst called it “transformative” for a volunteer board lacking large-scale development expertise.
“We’re really excited to bring our broker on board,” she said. “They know exactly who the players are. They know who to talk to. They know how to frame the project in such a way that it’ll attract developers much more than we could ever do on our own.”
With 30 years of experience in economic development, including leading Easton’s waterfront master plan, brings financing expertise crucial for infrastructure funding, including tax increment financing (TIF).
“Infrastructure is the stuff mostly below the ground. . . . It’s very expensive,” Ward said. “We’re really going to need to navigate some extensive fundraising strategies and partner with the city, in partnership with the state and the county.”
TIF timing depends on developer feedback and is likely to advance in the first quarter of 2026, though the hotel must be under construction first. Negotiations with a prospective hotelier continue, with hopes for a deal that could see the boutique property open by early 2029.
The site plan is expected to remain consistent with the board’s original ideas, with minor refinements from professionals, Ward and Hengst agreed.
“We don’t see the site design or ideas changing that drastically,” Hengst said. “That basic layout, we would like to stay the same. . . We still want it to be a new urbanist design. We still want it to be a walkable community.”
Addressing past criticisms, including a 2024 city lawsuit resolved in August, Hengst acknowledged transparency issues stemmed from the board’s learning curve.
“Yes, the community definitely felt there was a lack of transparency in the past,” she acknowledged. Improvements include monthly board meetings broadcast on town hall streams, quarterly partner updates, and direct outreach: “If you have a question . . . we’re happy to respond.”
Completed public elements, such as the newly-illuminated promenade, demonstrate a commitment to accessibility. “The promenade is complete,” Hengst said. “It’s open for use for the community. . . Nothing that is built on this site [will ever] close off the community to their access to the waterfront.”
Ward painted an ambitious vision for the project’s impact, calling it “an incredibly important parcel, not only, again, to Cambridge, but to the region, to really a reset for the region.”
She elaborated: “This project, given that it’s so visible and it’s absolutely exquisite location on the Choptank, really has potentially . . . a regional draw and from a tourism perspective, it’ll put Cambridge on the map. . . . It will build on [nearby] Hyatt’s success. It’s an area that will provide recreation. . . . And so these assets that are here already in Cambridge are going to be enhanced.”
With the broker process underway and public amenities drawing visitors, CWDI hopes 2026 brings visible progress and renewed excitement.
“I am excited about the future of CWDI,” Hengst said. “There’s a lot of really great things coming up in the next year that’ll even excite and invigorate the community even more.”
For updates, visit cambridgeharbor.org or contact CWDI directly.
The video is approximately 16 minutes. It was produced by P. Ryan Anthony