ROSENSTOCK BUILDING
Address: Ellicott City, MD
Client/Owner: Historic Ellicott Properties
The Rosenstock Building is a 3‐story 12,000 square foot mixed‐use building in the Ellicott City historical district,
built to replace the original Rosenstock Department Store building, which was destroyed by a fire in November 1999. The new building accommodates a mix of retail, office and residential space. The exterior of the building fits within the historic context of the street, meeting The Ellicott City Historic District Guidelines. The approval of this main street building and exterior design was secured from the Howard County HDC during the first presentation. The center of the façade is more contemporary, and allows a view from the street into all three floors of the building. The sides of the main façade reflect the original Rosenstock Department Store building at the turn of the century.
The building spans the 35’ wide Tiber Creek. The first floor of the building is approximately 4’ below the 100‐year flood plain. The structural system for the building was selected to meet FEMA flood‐proofing requirements. The first floor slabs on each side of the creek were dramatically thickened to increase their overall weight and resist the uplift pressure of a flooding creek. Hollow core concrete planks, with a topping slab, span the creek. The side walls of the first floor are poured concrete, waterproofed up to 1 foot above the flood plain. The party walls to the neighboring buildings are 3‐hour fire‐rated block.
After the 1000‐year flash flood in July 2016, the photograph to the right shows the extent of damage to the Rosenstock Building – with no time to set the flood gate in place, the front doors were knocked off their hinges and water entered the building, rising to about 5 feet above the ground floor elevation; just as quickly, the water exited the building, leaving wet finishes and store inventory. However, the building suffered no damage to its structural frame and electrical service (secondary cables encased in a concrete duct bank run up to the 2nd floor electrical room), and minimal damage to interior and exterior finishes.
Consultants:
SRBR Engineers, Inc. - mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering
Size: 11,760 sf
Shell Construction Cost: $2,000,000 ($170/sq. ft.)
Construction Completed: 2004