Seven years and more than $13 million in taxpayer money later, an Eastern Shore nonprofit tasked with transforming Cambridge’s waterfront has produced little more than a slab of concrete and a brick promenade along the Choptank River.
“We have been spending a lot of money and we still have an empty field,” said Republican state Del. Tom Hutchinson, who represents Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico counties. “It is frankly time to get shovels in the ground and make something happen. It’s been a very, very long process.”
At the same time, group officials say they need more money to get the work done, with a memorandum scheduled to go out to potential investors next January.
Since Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc. (CWDI) first formed in 2018, it has received $13.16 million in grants and over 17 acres of free land, and it has paid out more than $5 million to contractors, according to the latest publicly available financial information. The nonprofit was created by the state of Maryland, Dorchester County and the City of Cambridge.
Yet the only visible progress is a partially built 900 ft. brick promenade that was supposed to be completed this summer and now may be finished by the end of this month.
The 34-acre development, named “Cambridge Harbor,” is nestled between the Choptank River Bridge on Rt. 50 and Cambridge Creek in the City of Cambridge.
On paper, plans call for a boutique anchor hotel, a fishing pier, a 1.5-acre park, restaurants, a promenade for bicycling and walking, an expanded public beach, and a blend of commercial and residential development.
State and local officials said the project appears to be years away from any substantive progress.
Pier funding has yet to be approved by the state. A hotel developer hasn’t been hired and master plans haven’t been approved by the city.
“I don’t think CWDI did anything right in terms of facilitating the successful redevelopment of the Cambridge Harbor site,” Former Cambridge City Manager Tom Carroll said.
He resigned his position in March 2024 in frustration, Carroll said, with the project’s lack of progress.
CWDI Board President Angie Hengst said she’s heard the concerns and acknowledges the delays. She blames the lack of visible results on the 2021 COVID-19 epidemic and poor working relationships between CWDI, city and county officials.
Big vision, slow progress
Part of the problem is how much the project is dependent on unconfirmed plans.
The state intends to tear down the current 2,500 ft. pier along the Choptank River Bridge, which is old and unusable, then build and manage a new one. However, there’s no money budgeted to do any of that.
“Funding for both the demolition of the old pier and construction of the new pier is subject to future budget allocations,” said Eric Luedtke, director of Capital Projects for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Among the reasons it hasn’t been in state budget discussions is that the city, county and CWDI couldn’t agree on a location for the new pier. That was resolved this summer, with the three settling on a preferred site. Even so, Luedtke said construction discussions were only in the early planning stages, as not even the length of the new pier has been decided.
He also would not give an estimate for how much demolition or construction would cost.
There are also questions about the hotel. CWDI officials said they’re in “final negotiations” with Pinnacle Hospitality Group to serve as the hotel developer. Hengst said she expects a deal by the end of October — although a nearly identical pledge was made in 2023.
If a deal gets approved in October, the actual hotel design work wouldn’t be expected to start until January 2026, CWDI officials estimate. Calls to Pinnacle were not returned by The Sun’s deadline.
Regardless of which company operates the hotel, it is currently scheduled to be placed right next to a yacht maintenance facility. In recent CWDI meetings, Cambridge residents questioned whether the noise from a working yacht facility would drive away tourists and how the hotel would operate in the off-season. CWDI officials, meanwhile, believe the yacht facility and a “working waterfront” could be an attraction.
Hengst told The Baltimore Sun the group did a hotel feasibility study in June 2021.
“However, the study is stale and was completed while coming out of the pandemic,” she added.
The Sun requested a copy of the study, but Hengst said she didn’t know where it was. She added that Pinnacle’s interest in working with CWDI shows the hotel is viable.
“Since we have a hotelier wanting to develop the site, it does confirm that it’s a desirable location,” she said.
Money goes for demolition
Multiple residents have also raised questions at both CWDI meetings and those of the Cambridge council in recent months, about where the nonprofit’s money went.
The group received $13.158 million in federal, state and local grants over the past six years, according to both the CWDI’s tax filings and Hengst. That includes $8.849 million in state grants; $2.4 million from federal sources; a total of $1.5 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds from Cambridge, Dorchester County and the state; $204,000 directly from Cambridge and $205,000 directly from Dorchester County.
According to tax filings and other financial records, 27% went to construction, 24% went to design, 24% went to buy property, 18% to demolition and 7% to operating costs.
How was the money spent?
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CWDI executive director annual salary – $100,000
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Demolition costs to tear down Dorchester General Hospital – $2.45 million
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Cost of purchasing Dorchester General Hospital and 17-acre property from University of Maryland Shore Regional Health – $2 million
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Project management bill for contractors – $936,004
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Engineering bill for contractors – $581,514
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Architect services – $381,096
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Insurance broker fees – $112,557
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Cost of purchasing Richardson Maritime Museum and surrounding property – $818,000
State officials say the money was used as intended.
“The Department’s awards have been used as intended for demolition and acquisition,” said Allison Foster, the communications director for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. “The dilapidated hospital buildings have been successfully demolished and the site acquired, clearing the way for new development.”
That new development stands at 34 acres now, thanks to both of these land purchases and additional property given by the city. But there’s nothing to see yet and for that, CWDI officials partly blame a lawsuit.
A costly legal fight
In 2024, CWDI looked to sell 2 acres of the city-donated land to Yacht Maintenance Company, which is owned by George Robinson, the brother-in-law of former CWDI board member Jeff Powell. The City of Cambridge argued that the land deal violated the original agreement, which required the nonprofit to advertise for and eventually choose a master developer for the property before agreeing to any land transfers. Instead, the CWDI board had appointed itself as master developer with no public process.
Both sides agreed to dismiss the case on Aug. 21, 2024, after Del. Hutchinson stepped in as mediator. In the wake of the meditation, founding CWDI board member Rich Zeidman resigned, along with CWDI executive director Matt Leonard. Attempts to reach both men were unsuccessful by presstime. Caroll also resigned his position with the city at that time. Meanwhile, CWDI got permission to sell the land to Yacht Maintenance.
Hutchinson said change in leadership on both sides was needed, “in order to regain the trust and to rebuild the CWDI board.”
“We had to get the city to drop the lawsuit,” Hutchinson said. “When you get to a point that you have a lawsuit, the only people that win are the attorneys with the fees. It was important to get people back to the table to talk collectively.”
Hengst said the fight was a major setback.
“That certainly stopped things dead in their tracks,” she said.
Moving forward
But now, Hengst said, the group is moving forward. She points to infrastructure and design plans, which CWDI is working with the city planning staff to get approved. She also points to the hotel developer, with whom she hopes to have a contract signed by the end of October.
Accomplishing Phase I comes with a price tag of $9.24 million. That includes $5.24 million for public infrastructure, $800,000 for design and development costs, a $300,000 match for a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, $2.4 million for that brick promenade and $500,000 to repair the wharf.
Using the land sale proceeds, the new EDA grant and $1.25 million left over in ARPA funds, the nonprofit says it has all but $2.89 million covered.
Despite repeated delays, Hutchinson said he remains hopeful the project will eventually succeed.
“It’s been a challenge — there have been disagreements and some legal challenges along the way,” he said. “I think we are past that.”
Have a news tip? Contact Eastern Shore bureau chief Josh Davis at jdavis@baltsun.com or 443-366-1844. You can also contact reporter Glynis Kazanjian at gkazanjian@baltsun.com or 301-674-7135.
