Historic Fell's Point Building, Former Home of Bertha's Mussels, Condemned
A building at 734 S. Broadway condemned after inspectors found a bowed brick wall near collapse. Emergency repairs will cost the deed-holder roughly $250,000.
The building at 734 South Broadway in Fell's Point that once housed Bertha's Mussels sat uncertain after a failed auction. Now it faces a new crisis: city inspectors condemned it on March 26, 2026, posting a sign on the door after deeming the structure unsafe. Emergency crews moved in almost immediately to brace an exterior brick wall that posed a risk of collapsing.
Bertha's Mussels, a neighborhood institution, closed in October 2023. Longtime owner Tony Norris auctioned off the restaurant's contents last spring as he and his wife headed into retirement. The property itself never found a buyer at a sufficient price. "We'd like to see the best thing happen to it, but right now, we're just concerned with getting on with our lives," Norris said at the time.
When the auction fell short, the building's future was left unresolved, and the condemnation compounded an already precarious situation. The lender who currently holds the deed on the multi-parceled property now faces an estimated $250,000 bill for emergency stabilization work.
General contractor Marty Bement is leading the repairs, which center on what he calls the Lancaster wall, a section of brick along Lancaster Street with a pronounced outward curve. "Basically, we're replacing the Lancaster wall because it has a big bow in it, so we'll remove that section of wall along Lancaster," Bement said. "We'll build a modern, structural wall and then veneer it with brick so it looks very much like the brick that's there, and in the end, it will look just like it looks now."
The restored section will include six-over-six historic windows fitted with double-glazed glass, and workers will preserve the building's historic facade along Broadway, keeping the streetscape intact for one of Fell's Point's most recognizable corners.
Bement noted the wall's instability is not a new problem. "I started working in Fell's Point as part of the development team for the Admiral Fell Inn in 1983, and it was like that in 1983," he said, adding that previous star-and-bolt reinforcement work had slowed but not stopped the movement. "It really just needs to be redone."
The identity of the lender holding the deed has not been disclosed, and no timeline for the emergency repairs' completion has been announced.
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