Housing Vacancy and Community Redevelopment

It’s been a seven-decade streak of population loss and disinvestment for Baltimore’s neighborhoods.  The post-industrial headwinds that shook the economic foundation of America’s rust belt left a trail of abandoned industrial sites and brownfields, crumbling infrastructure and blighted communities from the Midwest states to the Black Butterfly of Baltimore. Read More.

JPMorgan Chase is investing $8.45 million in nonprofit organizations and initiatives in Baltimore to help residents boost access to affordable homeownership and increase wealth among communities of color, the bank’s head of corporate responsibility said Tuesday. Read More.

One of the major issues he and the GBC team plan to tackle is the heavy presence of vacant buildings in the city. “It becomes the image that people identify with Baltimore,” Thomas said. “That impacts whether a small business can get a loan, because people think you’re in an area that people don’t come to.” Watch Interview.

On Dec. 11, Scott and the organizations’ leaders are set to host a public action meeting at Greater Harvest Baptist Church in Southwest Baltimore to update residents on their strategy to finance the rehabilitation of these homes. Read More.

A coalition of Baltimore faith and business leaders and Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration Monday unveiled an estimated $8 billion plan to revive thousands of vacant and abandoned homes funded by the city, state and private donors. Read More.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott unveiled an ambitious $3 billion plan Monday to attack the city’s thousands of vacant properties, promising to address a decades-old problem with funding from a newly created Tax Increment Financing zone and a yet-to-be-secured state investment. Read More.

“Baltimore’s vacancy challenge is complex, and is an amalgamation of many economic and social issues. It is also a backdrop for other challenges,” GBC CEO Mark Anthony Thomas writes. Read More.

There are more than 14,000 vacant homes in Baltimore. On Sunday, BUILD, the Greater Baltimore Committee, and Mayor Brandon Scott announced a joint effort to deal with the crisis. A steering committee will come up with a plan. Watch Video.

The Greater Baltimore Committee, the area’s pro-business advocacy group, merged with the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore last year, condensing into one larger voice. It coincided with the departure of the GBC’s longtime leader, Donald C. Fry, who stepped down after nearly two decades at the helm. Mark Anthony Thomas, a newcomer to Baltimore with a fresh set of eyes, stepped in to replace him by the year’s end, eager to build a legacy. Read More.

“When companies are making decisions, or when banks are making investment decisions for businesses they’re choosing to invest in, or when people are looking at a market at a hyper level, if you have population decline and blight, you’re already disadvantaged,” said Mark Anthony Thomas, President and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee. Watch Video.

There’s a new $7.5 billion proposed joint initiative in Baltimore City that seeks to turn around the long-standing issue of property vacancy and abandonment in the city. Watch Video.

A new initiative will bring together Baltimore leaders and faith organizations to help combat the city’s vacant home crisis. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is partnering with organizations to build a steering committee together with a goal to get $7.5 billion to invest in vacant properties in Baltimore. Watch Video.