Developer Chris Janian has decided to explore saving Martick’s, or at least part of it.

After failing to obtain permission to tear down the former Martick’s Restaurant Francais building to make way for a six-story apartment project, Janian has come back with a compromise proposal to save and restore the front third of the structure at 214 W. Mulberry St., if the city’s preservation commission will allow him to tear down the rear two-thirds.

The developer, who heads Vitruvius Development Company and is part of a group called Park Avenue Partners LLC, had previously sought permission to demolish the entire building so the land beneath it could be added to a larger parcel. Park Avenue Partners wants to construct a six-story, $30 million apartment building with commercial space at the street level.

In previous presentations to Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, Janian testified that he couldn’t find an economically feasible way to preserve the former restaurant building, which dates from before the Civil War, as part of the proposed development. He estimated that it would cost more than $1 million to save the Martick’s building because it has been vacant for a decade and is in poor condition.

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