The graffiti sprayed across the fence of a city-owned lot  – “MFG” for “Mother Fucking Genius” – seems to bluntly express the sentiments of the Rawlings-Blake administration about a project that has yet to submit any detailed plans.

The Board of Estimates is scheduled tomorrow to fast-track the sale of the small lot at 123 West Cross Street to Caves Valley Partners as part of the group’s recently unveiled plans to turn a patch of decaying industrial buildings in historically black Sharp-Leadenhall into a $250 million tech community.

The board’s agenda highlights the sale as part of a land disposition agreement to “enhance the developable footprint” of the South Baltimore project, christened Stadium Square.

“The developer is completing the acquisition of all surrounding properties in an effort to assemble a contiguous development parcel,” according to the board agenda.

Current plans call for tearing down the industrial buildings and rowhouses purchased by the developer west of Hanover Street and south between Cross and Ostend streets.

In its place, Caves Valley proposes 300,000 square feet of office space, 350 apartments and 70,000 square feet of retail (about the size of Harborplace’s Light Street Pavilion).

The idea, according to partner Arsh Mirmiran, is to fill the “pent-up demand” for space by high-tech companies and provide living quarters for like-minded souls.

A Dashed Highway

The district is part of a 1974 urban renewal zone devised to accommodate the planned construction of an “East-West” expressway across Sharp-Leadenhall and Federal Hill to join I-83 near present-day Harbor East. The highway was scrapped after years of citizen opposition.

The Cross Street parcel will be purchased by Caves Valley for $100,000. The assessed value of land for adjoining lots (with slightly smaller square footage) is $80,000.

Stadium Square LLC, the entity used by Caves Valley, “will not receive any city funds or incentives” for the purchase of the land, according to board records.

However, the bigger project is expected to call for tax incentives or TIF (tax-incentive financing) from the city when plans are submitted this fall.

Caves Valley Partners are comprised of four real estate lawyers (Arthur Adler, Steven Fader, Steven Sibel and Craig Colton) and one civil engineer (Mirmiran).

Founded in 2007 and based in Towson, CVP has a financial share in the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore and has developed several parcels in South Baltimore, including 1111 Light Street (which is currently up for sale for $42 million) and Riverside Wharf.

The group recently redeveloped a 12-story office tower in Towson anchored by Fader’s MileOne Automotive Group – and is planning a $300 million mixed-use complex south of downtown near Susquehanna Avenue and York Road.