Hamilton Avenue Apartments

Contemporary Multifamily Housing in Frederick, Maryland

Hamilton Avenue Apartments Frederick MD is a contemporary multifamily residential project designed by DDR-chitecture to thoughtfully integrate new housing within an established Frederick neighborhood. Led by Principal Architect Donna Rosano, the project balances contextual massing, durable materials, and efficient unit layouts to support long-term residential use.

Year: 2025 - 2028

Client: Re Deal 3, LLC

Size: 17,200 sf

Location : Frederick, Maryland

Hamilton Avenue Apartments Frederick MD exterior showing three-story multifamily infill with stone base and modern siding

Hamilton Avenue Apartments Frederick MD multifamily building showing parking access and contextual massing

Hamilton Avenue Apartments Frederick MD interior kitchen with open-plan layout and modern finishes

Hamilton Avenue Apartments Frederick MD interior living space with balcony access

Highlights

16 new multifamily units thoughtfully scaled for the neighborhood
Mix of (8) one-bedroom and (8) two-bedroom units
Contextual infill design relying in part, on faux-stone siding inspired by nearby historical homes.
Deep micropile foundation engineered to overcome the site’s historical sinkhole
Balconies along the southwest façade
Attainable modern homes for downtown Frederick’s workforce
Parking provided on-site with privacy fencing
A quiet-but-walkable location one block from the Frederick Fairgrounds

Opportunity

A centrally located lot on Hamilton Avenue, walkable to downtown Frederick and the Fairgrounds, had sat underutilized for years after a catastrophic sinkhole collapsed two homes. The neighborhood needed attainable, modern housing that respected its quiet residential character while supporting Frederick’s growing demand for workforce-friendly units.

Solution

Hamilton Avenue Apartments reclaims the site with a contextual three-story infill building supported by a deep micropile foundation, reaching beyond unstable soils to safely anchor new housing. The exterior combines faux-stone siding and clean modern lines to blend with nearby single-family homes while elevating the area’s architectural quality. Balconies on the southwest façade give residents private outdoor moments without overwhelming the streetscape.

Impact

The project transforms a once-compromised property into 16 new, attainable homes for future residents who wish to participate in Frederick’s growing downtown scene adjacent to the Eastward expansion occurring along Carroll Creek. The new units add density without disruption and demonstrate how technical engineering, careful scale, and human-centered design can return value to overlooked land within an already built-out city.

Narrative

Set just one block from the Frederick Fairgrounds and a short walk from Carroll Creek, the site of the Hamilton Avenue Apartments sits within a quiet, established residential pocket—close enough to downtown Frederick to be walkable, yet removed enough to feel like home. Designing here meant balancing context, scale, and sensitivity while ensuring the engineering rose to meet the very real geotechnical challenges beneath the surface. It was only 3 years earlier that a sinkhole opened beneath two homes on this site, swallowing their foundations and leaving a scar in an otherwise peaceful neighborhood on the edge of downtown Frederick. Here, Re Deal 3, LLC saw an opportunity to restore value to land the community had once thought unusable.

The new structure is rooted in stability. A network of deep micropiles reaches safely below the compromised soil, surpassing traditional foundation depths to secure the building to solid ground sturdy enough to house 16 residential units (8 single bedroom and 8 double bedroom units) and enough to ensure the quiet residential neighborhood remains unburdened by the increased density.

Above that technical triumph sits a three-story building designed to blend seamlessly into its surroundings. The façade uses faux-stone siding, a nod to both the neighboring single-family homes and the emerging business district to the west. The massing is modest, measured, and intentional—contextual infill that strengthens the street rather than competing with it. Balconies along the southwest façade offer residents outdoor space while maintaining the calm rhythm of Hamilton Avenue.

Inside, the units are modern, clean-lined, and practical—attainable housing for the people who keep Frederick running: young professionals, service workers, creatives, and employees in the city’s rapidly expanding tech and healthcare sectors. Each layout is designed for ease, convenience, and efficient living, reflecting the needs of residents who want to live close to downtown but outside the price point of Frederick’s historic brick homes.

Hamilton Avenue Apartments is quiet architecture in the best sense: it fits, it respects, it uplifts. It turns a once-unstable site into a safe, modern home for sixteen households. And it demonstrates how thoughtful engineering and community-minded design can bring forgotten land back into Frederick’s future.