I'm a local HML myself now, but I encourage everyone to develop their own private money in their circles of influence and spend a little time each year putting on a class on how to do it. 

They love managing agents instead of selling and closing deals and more power to them if that floats their boat it's just not my ideal thing to do.I am not against maybe eventually having a few agents but any of them that make my life more stressful or difficult would be be going bye,bye real quick.

I did a 1031, it's tax deferral so eventually down the line you'll pay taxes but not if you do the exchange. 

Still good deals to be had, but developments going on in the downtown are fueling the surrounding areas, revitalization of older warehouses for luxury units, etc.

Hey everybody, I'm fairly new to BP and am interested in eventually starting my first flip and sell in the Baltimore area.

Other options might be finding a partner who wants to develop the land (if that is possible) and building a regular home to sell or rent when complete.

Most developers I know are building closer to $400/square foot. 

So an exchange of building into land would be fine as long as his intent was to hold that land as an investment and not to develop and sell lots immediately.I think your idea is a very good one. 

Just curious on how someone that wants to focus on mid and high-rise condo developments can start?

I will say that there is a lot of development in the works around these areas that should help improve property values.Stratford Estates/Ruskin Heights and Marlborough are all further south.