The document summarizes Baltimore's Vacants to Value initiative to address the city's vacancy problem. It describes how 50 years of population loss left 16,000 vacant buildings concentrated in low-income neighborhoods without development demand. The initiative aims to streamline code enforcement, facilitate investment in strategic areas, and support redevelopment through property disposition, incentives, and targeted demolition. Updates provided show over 1,700 rehabilitated or under construction units and $87 million in private investment under the plan.

1. Presented by Paul Graziano
Baltimore City Housing Commissioner
May 16, 2014
Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing
Annual Conference
Baltimore City’s
Vacants to Value
Initiative
Promoting Sustainable Placemaking & Revitalization
Through:

2. • Fifty years of population and job loss have devastated
the housing market in many of Baltimore’s lowest
income neighborhoods.
• Baltimore has experienced decades of property
abandonment resulting in 16,000 vacant and boarded
buildings.
• The majority of Baltimore’s boarded structures –
approximately 11,500 are highly concentrated in
severely distressed areas where there is insufficient
development demand to support wholesale
rehabilitation now or in the foreseeable future.
• Unlike cities such as Detroit and Cleveland, where
detached houses dominate, the row houses of
Baltimore make vacancy a unique problem. Vacant
properties are interspersed in any given block and
make demolition difficult and costly.
Baltimore City’s Vacancy Problem

3. • Growing the City
– Mayor’s 10k household increase goal
• Reversing 50 years of disinvestment
– Community Development
– Economic Development
• Tax base
• Jobs
• Market driven realities
• Preservation/Production of affordable
housing (e.g., RAD)
• Creating mixed income housing
opportunities
• Protecting interests of current residents
• Eliminating pockets of blight
• $1.1 billion plan for Baltimore City Schools:
– Build 15 new schools, and significantly renovate 30
schools
• Enhanced Recreational/Green Space
• Partnering with Anchor Institutions
Mayor’s Plan for a Healthy City

4. Baltimore’s Vacancy Challenge:
16,000 Vacant Buildings
Breakdown of the City’s 16,000 Vacants by
Area Type
(80% Privately Owned)
To view Development Clusters go to:
http://www.baltimorehousing.org/vtov_code_clusters
9%
19%
72%
(1,500 Vacants) Located in Development Clusters
(3,000 Vacants) Located in Areas With Development
Demand
(11,500 Vacants) Located in Areas Without
Development Demand

5. Baltimore City’s
Housing Market Typology

6. Eliminating Blight:
Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s Vacants to Value
Strategy 1: Streamline the disposition process
Strategy 2: Streamline Code Enforcement in
Middle Markets
Strategy 3: Facilitate Investment in Community
Development Clusters Near
Areas of Strength
Strategy 4: Targeted Homebuyer Incentives
Strategy 5: Support Development/Major
Redevelopment Activity
Strategy 6: Maintain, Clear, Hold and Identify
Non-Housing Uses
Strategy 7: Provide Coordinated Green, Healthy
and Sustainable Home and
Neighborhood Improvements
In November, 2010 Mayor Rawlings-Blake announced
Vacants to Value, a multi-pronged blight elimination initiative:

7. Vacants to Value
Key Success Indicators*
Disposition of City-Owned Properties
1,087 (717 buildings, 370 lots) with
proceeds totaling over $3 million
$900 Vacant Building Notice (VBN) Citations
Issued 1,664
Properties Rehabbed or Construction
Underway
1,709
Receivership Cases Filed or Pending Filing 1,253 (180 pending)
Permit Revenue $2.27 million
Private Investment Under Strategies 2 & 3
(Construction Costs from Permits Only) $87 million
$10,000 Homeownership Incentives Granted 349
Development/Major Redevelopment
Over $350 million invested in completed
development projects
Demolitions 883
Lots Adopted 878 currently adopted
Commercial Agriculture Operations 3
*As of April, 2014

8. Baltimore Homeownership
Incentive Program, B-HiP
B-Hip is specifically tailored for qualified Baltimore City homebuyers which
enables them to layer various incentive programs including:
• V2V $10,000 Homeownership Program
• Buying Into Baltimore $5,000 incentive
• Live Near Your Work Employer incentive matched (up to $2,000) by City
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) up to $5,000 incentive
• Baltimore City Employee Homeownership Program $5,000 incentive

9. B-HiP - Live Near Your Work
Hopkins Target Areas

10. Project
Total
Units
Total Rental Ownership
Developer Status Total Dev Cost
Affordable
Affordable
Market
Affordable
Market
429 E 22nd Street 1 1 1 0 0 0 PHG Complete/Sold $ 200,000
1512 Mt Royal 6 5 5 1 0 0 Empire Homes Complete $ 1.2 million
2301 N Charles 7 7 7 0 0 0 AHC Complete $ 1.3 million
Columbus School 50 50 50 0 0 0 Woda Development In lease up $ 13.5 million
Artists Housing/TRF 7 0 0 0 7 0 TRF Complete $ 1.8 million
Dayspring II 22 22 22 0 0 0 Dayspring CDC Complete $ 10.7 million
Fells Point Station 47 47 34 15 0 0
Henson Development
Co. Under construction $ 13.4 million
Gateway Housing 10 10 0 0 10 0 Druid Heights CDC Complete $ 2.3 million
Lillian Jones
Apartments 75 74 74 1 0 0
The French
Companies/Empire Complete $ 16 million
M on Madison Apts 74 74 74 0 0 0 M on Madison LP Complete $ 16.9 million
Renaissance Gardens 60 60 60 0 0 0 CHAI Complete $ 8.6 million
Union Rowe 72 72 72 0 0 0
Greater Baltimore
AHC Complete $ 9.3 million
Wayland Village Senior
Apts. 90 90 90 0 0 0
Wayland CDC/Bon
Secours/Enterprise Complete $ 15.3 million
North Avenue Gateway 64 64 64 0 0 0 Woda Development Complete $ 14.9 million
Development/Major Redevelopment
Completed Projects

11. Development/Major Redevelopment
Projects Under Construction
Project
Total
Units
Total Rental Ownership
Developer Status Total Dev Cost
Affordable
Affordable
Market
Affordable
Market
Biddle Residences 6 5 5 1 0 0 Poverni Ventures Under construction $ 600,000
Calvert Street Properties 18 18 18 0 0 0 Empire Homes Under construction $ 2.9 million
Lafayette Residences 10 10 10 0 0 0 Poverni Ventures Closing in 2014 $ 880,000
Manor South 90 90 90 0 0 0 CHAI Under construction $ 16.7 million
Shannon House 18 18 18 0 0 0 Gaudenzia Under Construction $ 5.5 million

12. Development/Major Redevelopment
Projects with Funding Awarded
Project
Total
Units
Total Rental Ownership
Developer Status Total Dev Cost
Affordable
Affordable
Market
Affordable
Market
Bon Secours
Gibbons Apartments 80 80 80 0 0 0
Unity Properties,
Inc. Closing in 2015 $ 18.3 million
City Arts II 60 60 60 0 0 0 Homes for America Closing in 2015 $ 14.2 million
Mary Harvin 57 56 56 0 0 0 Woda Group Closing in 2014 $ 14.1 million
Mulberry at Park I 68 68 68 0 0 0
Enterprise Housing
Corp. Closing in 2015 $ 19.6 million
Penn Square II 60 60 60 0 0 0 Woda Group Closing in 2014 $ 14.7 million
4227 Frederick Ave 9 9 9 0 0 0 CHA Closing in 2014 $ 1.2 million

13. Development/Major Redevelopment
Multi-Phase Projects
Project
Total
Units
Total Rental Ownership
Developer Status
Total Dev
Cost
Total
Development
Completed
Affordable
Affordable
Market
Affordable
Market
Bailey Scattered Sites 35 35 35 0 0 0 HABC
Phase 1 – 16 Units
complete; 9 units under
construction; Phase 2, 3
in pre-development $ 8.5 million $ 4 million
Barclay 322 156 134 65 22 101 Telesis Corp.
4 Phases. Phase I
Rental complete.
Phase I Ownership
complete. Phase II
Rental under
construction. $ 90 million $ 52.3 million
O’Donnell Heights 925 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
Michaels
Development
Company/Greater
Baltimore AHC
4 Phases with sub-
phases within each
phase. Phase 1A is
complete. $ 300 million $ 18 million
Orchard Ridge 444 288 234 15 54 141 Pennrose Properties
3 phases of rental
complete. 30 units of
Homeownership under
construction by Habitat
of the Chesapeake. New
rental phase closed. $ 94.3 million $ 77 million
Poppleton Co-op 274 274 274 0 0 0
Hampstead
Development Group
3 Phases - Phase I
and II complete.
Phase III funded. $ 9.1 million $ 41.3 million
Preston Street
Phases I-III 40 40 10 0 30 0 Mi Casa Complete $ 11.7 million $ 11.7 million
Uplands 761 553 208 0 245 308 Uplands Visionaries
Phase I Rental
complete. Phase I
Ownership under
construction. $245.6 million $ 20.6 million

14. Baltimore City V2V Investment Areas

15. Greenmount Redevelopment Corridor

16. Greenmount Corridor -
Johnston Square
Johnston Square Development Activity

17. Greenmount Corridor -
Johnston Square
Johnston Square Development Activity

18. Mi Casa Rehabs on Preston St. Before
Greenmount Corridor -
Johnston Square

19. Mi Casa Rehabs on Preston St. After
Greenmount Corridor -
Johnston Square

20. Lillian Jones Apartments
Greenmount Corridor -
Johnston Square

21. Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West

22. City Arts I Before
Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West
City Arts I After

23. Baltimore Design School
Before
Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West

24. Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West
Baltimore Design School
After
Photo from National Historic Trust Preservation Magazine
Cover, May 2014
http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/

25. Oliver St. Before
Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West

26. Oliver St. After
Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West

27. Montessori School
Greenmount Corridor -
Greenmount West

28. Greenmount Corridor - Barclay

29. NSP Rehabs on N. Calvert Street
Greenmount Corridor - Barclay
Infill New Construction on
Barclay Street

30. Barclay Phase 2 Demolition
Greenmount Corridor - Barclay

31. Barclay Phase 2 Redevelopment
Greenmount Corridor - Barclay

32. Green Space at Barclay & 22nd Streets
Greenmount Corridor - Barclay

33. East Baltimore Development
Initiative (EBDI) & Periphery

34. EBDI & Periphery

35. 1200 Block N. Broadway Before
EBDI & Periphery

36. 1200 Block N. Broadway After
EBDI & Periphery

37. 1256 N. Broadway After
EBDI & Periphery

38. 1400 Block of N. Bond St. Before
EBDI & Periphery
1400 N. Bond St. After

39. Park Heights

40. Park Heights
Park Heights Avenue Park Heights Avenue
Site Clearance

41. Park Heights
Renaissance Gardens Before
(Formerly Pall Mall Apts.)
Renaissance Gardens After

42. Park Heights Ripken Field

43. O’Donnell Heights

44. O’Donnell Heights O’Donnell Heights
Proposed Master Plan
 62 acres
 $300M development
project
 925 Mixed income
housing and rental
units (75 Phase IA)
 596 units demolished
 New schools planned
at both ends of the site
 O'Donnell 1A is
completed and
leasing.
 Phase 1B is in the
planning stage.

45. O’Donnell Heights
BEFORE

46. O’Donnell Heights
After

47. Uplands

48. Uplands
Before

49. Uplands
After
For SaleRental

50. Add body copy here (suggested font size is 18 pt,
maximum and 12 pt as a minumum). The standard
matching v2v body font suggested is: arial.
Use this page to add images and as an image template.
Duplicate this page and others as needed.
West Baltimore Redevelopment Area
Heritage
Crossing HOPE
VI
Townes
at the
Terraces
HOPE VI
Red Line
Station
Red Line
Station
Red Line
Hampstead
Redevelopmen
t Area
University of
Maryland
Medical
Center /
Baltimore
Campus
Westside
Redevelopment
Area /
Superblock
Route 40 (Highway to Nowhere)

51. West Baltimore - Poppleton
Before

52. West Baltimore - Poppleton
After

53. West Baltimore - Poppleton/University
of Maryland Bio-Park

54. West Baltimore - University of Maryland
Bio-Park

55. Baltimore Housing:
Two Agencies, One Mission