Otis Warren Jr., first Black person to construct an office building in downtown Baltimore, dies

Otis Warren Jr., a self-made businessman who became the first Black person to construct an office building in downtown Baltimore, died Tuesday at Sinai Hospital. His son, Otis Warren III, said he died of complications from “a health issue that occurred two years ago.” Mr. Warren was 80 and had homes in the Village of Cross Keys and in Florida. In 1993, he opened his $38 million, 11-story City Crescent building at Howard and Baltimore streets. “I had a philosophical and emotional need to make this happen for my community,” he said to The Sun of the successfully completed structure. “Beyond the money, it was a purpose. It was a cause.”