Phelps Buying Luxe Condo in Baltimore
By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | August 23, 2008
Hey Michael Phelps! You just won eight gold medals. What are you going to do now?! The answer is not, “I’m going to Disneyland,” but rather, “I’m going to Baltimore!” Phelps, perhaps the greatest Olympian of all time after eclipsing Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics, is eagerly returning to his Baltimore roots, buying a condo in the Fells Point area and perhaps buying the swimming pool complex where he was first discovered and trained to be an Olympian.
OK, first things first: Phelps is buying a $1.69 million condo at “The Crescent,” a luxury condo building on the Baltimore waterfront located at 959 Fell St., Baltimore, MD. TMZ breaks out an array of photos of Phelps’ condo, which has a swimming pool (above) — natch — and we presume condo bylaws allow Phelps’ snoring sidekick, Herman, to live there as well. This will be quite a change in location since Phelps used to live with his mom, Debbie, in one of 1,777 red brick Rodgers Forge townhomes (here’s an example) that are packed together over five streets in a neighborhood north of Baltimore proper.
Phelps and Bowman at "Meadowbrook" pool (Photo courtesy Baltimore Sun)
Phelps is also talking about purchasing the North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Meadowbrook facility, the place where he was discovered at age 11 by swim coach Bob Bowman. Actually, Phelps and Bowman (pictured above) are talking about buying it together to turn it into an Olympic training ground.
NBAC, or “Meadowbrook,” as it is known, is adjacent to the Northwest Skating Rink and also nearby is a dinky little post office. I lived in Baltimore and was a member at NBAC at the time Phelps was training for the Athens Olympics. Since this “complex” sits in a flood plain, the Baltimore Messenger doubts they will make that kind of commitment. My personal message to Michael: If you do buy it, please fix the locker rooms (the women’s room was disgusting), replace the chunks of concrete that are missing around the pool, expand the snack bar, and have someone skim the pool for floating band-aids.
Whatever the outcome, Phelps has been an incredible ambassador for Baltimore and all of its goodness. Here’s to you, Baltimore, “The Greatest City in America.” Your favorite son is coming back.
Phelps' new digs: a $1.69 million condo at The Crescent
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- Categories: Celebrity Real Estate, Sports Star Homes
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Hitting the Links | Redfin Boston Sweet Digs on August 25, 2008 12:24 am
[...] Michael Phelps plans to purchase some sweet digs in Baltimore. He also plans to buy the athletic club where he was discovered. [Zillow Blog] [...]
A Little Residential, A Little Commercial for Mark Phelps | Sibdu, Social Networks for All of Commercial Real Estate | on August 25, 2008 7:56 am
[...] tip of the hat to Zillow Blog for the story, and for an item in the same piece that says Phelps and his swim coach, Bob Bowman, [...]
DARRYL ADDERLEY on August 25, 2008 7:57 am
I hope this was thought out extremely careful before this went to print? Three things are happening here; you (Zillow) get good press/advertisement, Michael Phelps gets more face-time and Baltimore is back on the map! This is all good and I’m sure you checked with Michael and every agent he may have; so, to get to my obvious point…why don’t you put his social security number too! One would think you, the realtor, would want to help with the client’s security/privacy and not jump at another opportunity for ‘face-time’. This is tastless/cheap! Stick to what has helped to build your reputation and leave the gossip alone.
Diane Tuman on August 25, 2008 9:58 am
Darryl: Your concerns are well-founded, but we do not divulge the addresses of celebrities or sports stars unless they’re already publicly available.
Laura Vecsey on August 27, 2008 12:37 pm
Michael Phelps is only acting on one important and true premise: Baltimore is the center of the universe. Look it up.
Carnival of Real Estate #107 | Zillow® Blog on September 8, 2008 9:32 am
[...] edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is posted at Real Estate Undressed. Host Larry Cragun used a Michael Phelps theme — the Olympic swim star from Baltimore who won 8 gold medals — and chose 8 great [...]
Larry Cragun on September 8, 2008 2:47 pm
Lighten up Darryl
Will on March 7, 2009 8:32 am
If this really is the condo that Michael bought (located at 959 Fell St)…then it appears to be for sale at a significant loss from $1.68m that was the supposed purchase price. Hopefully this is not the right unit and he is staying downtown.