Vacant houses, uninhabitable due to abandonment or lack of owner investment, exert a heavy cost on neighborhoods and perpetuate a cycle of disinvestment and population decline in Baltimore City. ReBUILD Metro’s mission is to rebuild these abandoned properties into homeownership and rental opportunities to strengthen whole neighborhoods. Since 2008, the organization has provided high quality housing to over 450 households and families in East Baltimore, and it has renovated 235 abandoned rowhouses and vacant lots into mixed-income single-family homes. ReBUILD has supported construction of 189 affordable rental apartment units, redeveloped five retail storefronts, and consolidated 120 vacant lots into parks and greenspaces. The restoration of formerly distressed properties in the East Baltimore neighborhoods of Oliver, Greenmount West, and Broadway East has resulted in increased resident population, safer streets, and higher homeownership rates without displacement.
ReBUILD Metro’s success is based on careful analysis of real estate market indicators, its experience with negotiating complex development and financing structures, and its work with Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) to create a community-driven plan to guide implementation and redevelopment. For the past several years, ReBUILD Metro has worked in partnership with Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization and the City of Baltimore to implement a community vision plan to rebuild homes on whole blocks, create greenspaces, and revitalize the Johnston Square community.
A block of rowhomes in Johnston Square prior to renovation.
The same block of rowhomes in Johnston Square after renovation.
ReBUILD Metro and BUILD believe that Baltimore can break the cycle of disinvestment through a whole block strategy steeped in experience and practice. Supported by funding from the Abell and Robert W. Deutsch foundations, their report, “Whole Blocks, Whole City” advocates for a new citywide approach of securing and deploying public capital in an equitable manner that addresses vacant and underinvested properties and restores whole blocks and insists on healthy neighborhoods for all Baltimoreans.
The Greater Baltimore Committee is honored to work closely with ReBUILD Metro and our public sector partners to drive impactful and lasting change by addressing one of our community’s toughest challenges.
– Mark Anthony Thomas, GBC President and CEO
The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) joined BUILD and Baltimore City to lead advocacy for the business community, secure significant state government funding, and accelerate reinvestment. “Revitalizing communities and creating vibrant neighborhoods are major pillars of our success as a thriving region,” said GBC President and CEO Mark Anthony Thomas. “ReBUILD Metro’s steadfast commitment and thoughtful data-driven approach to bold ideas have pushed our collective imagination of what’s possible.”