As part of the administration’s larger Reinvest Baltimore agenda, Governor Wes Moore announced $50 million in grant awards and the establishment of a new philanthropic support fund to expedite efforts to eliminate unoccupied properties in Baltimore City through the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative.
According to the news release issued on Tuesday, July 8, Governor Wes Moore today announced $50 million in grant awards to support the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative, which aims to reduce the number of unoccupied properties in Baltimore City. Additionally, the governor announced a new Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative Support Fund, to which over $1 million in technical assistance for grantees has been provided by generous partners. The announcements made today accelerate the Moore-Miller Administration’s pledge, made last year through the establishment of Reinvest Baltimore, to address the problem of abandoned properties in Baltimore City neighborhoods.
Governor Moore stated that this decade must be Baltimore’s moment if it is to be Maryland’s. We are aware that Baltimore City’s unoccupied housing crisis must be addressed if we hope to spur investment and development in the area. And as the people closest to the issue are also the ones closest to the solution, the future of these sites will be planned in consultation with local leaders. We will all benefit from a more lively, thriving, and expanding Baltimore if we work together.
A total of $50 million was given by the state to assist in the redevelopment of communities that have a large number of unoccupied properties. Because of their remarkable potential for reconstruction, these localities have been given priority. The funds are intended for particular recipients who have demonstrated achievement in the past: $30 million will be allocated to 16 community development organizations, $15 million will be used by Baltimore City and the Maryland Stadium Authority to demolish, stabilize, and purchase vacant properties for redevelopment, and $5 million will be used to support large, mixed-use projects from Fiscal Year 2025 as they transition into their next phase.
Go to the Department of Housing and Community Development’s website to view the complete list of recipients.
According to Baltimore City Mayor Brandon M. Scott, “Our shared vision of investing in communities that have long been purposefully disinvested in is the foundation of our collective work to end vacants in Baltimore.”The release of the most recent BVRI grant round today will push our efforts to the next level and expedite our work to realize that vision. Under Governor Moore, the state, the city, our institutional partners in BUILD and GBC, and the community have all come together in an unprecedented cooperation that demonstrates what can be achieved when leaders work together and are dedicated to the same goal. Together, we will make sure that our neighborhoods understand the difference between the history of deliberate disinvestment they have experienced and the future we have outlined via this collaboration. Baltimore flourishes when it receives the investment it deserves.
The governor also announced a new partnership to help community development organizations deploy capital funds: the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative Support Fund. Over $1 million in grants from charitable partners have already been approved for the fund through a cooperation with the Maryland Community Investment Corporation.
Supporters of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative Support Fund include the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, the Middendorf Foundation, the Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund, the Abell Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Goldseker Foundation, and others.
According to Matthew D. Gallagher, president and chief executive officer of the Goldseker Foundation and a member of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council, philanthropic donors understand that funding alone is insufficient and that professional advice and gap resources are crucial to the success of community development groups.This fund’s quick formation shows how dedicated Baltimore funders are to keeping up with the State’s ambition and pace.
According to Jake Day, secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, vacant homes have stifled Baltimore’s potential for far too long.Block by block, these grants from the first accelerated round of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative will help us revitalize communities, draw in new construction, and create the Baltimore that we all want.
According to Baltimore City Councilman James Torrence, traditionally redlined communities, such as those I serve in West Baltimore, have been deprived of the opportunity and investment they are entitled to for far too long.Beyond just improving physical infrastructure, this project aims to restore local pride, undo decades of underinvestment, and provide our communities the tools they need to prosper. As we strive to create a more vibrant, just, and equitable Baltimore, block by block, I’m honored to join with Governor Moore, Mayor Scott, the community, and our state and local partners.
