Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced that $50 million in grants will be given to Baltimore to help the city get rid of empty homes.
The Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative gives communities with a lot of empty homes the tools they need to get back on their feet.
Moore says that the eligible Baltimore neighbourhoods have been given top priority because they have the most potential for redevelopment.
“For this to be Maryland’s decade, it has to be Baltimore’s time,” he said. „We know that if we want to bring investment and growth to Baltimore City, we need to deal with the problem of empty homes. The future of these properties will be planned with the help of local leaders, since those who are closest to the issue know how to resolve it the fastest. We will all benefit from making Baltimore more alive, wealthy, and growing if we work together.
The governor said that $15 million will be given to Baltimore City and the Maryland Stadium Authority to help tear down, stabilise, and buy empty buildings so that they can be redeveloped. He also said that $30 million would be given to 16 community development organisations and $5 million would be given to large, mixed-use projects from Fiscal Year 2025 to help them move on to the next phase.
In Baltimore’s neighbourhoods, there are almost 13,000 empty homes. It will cost $3 billion, but the city wants to get that number down to “functional zero” within the next 15 years.
“Our shared goal of investing in communities that have been purposely underinvested in for a long time is what drives our work to end vacants in Baltimore,” said Brandon M. Scott, mayor of Baltimore City. “Today’s announcement of the latest round of BVRI grants will accelerate our work to deliver on that vision and will propel our efforts to the next level.”
Fund for vacant positions
Gov. Moore also talked about a new fund called the Baltimore Vacancies Reinvestment Initiative Support Fund. This is a partnership that gives community development groups more help. The governor’s office says that nonprofit partners have already given the fund more than $1 million in grants through a partnership with the Maryland Community Investment Corporation.
Matthew D. Gallagher, a member of the Baltimore Vacancies Reinvestment Council, said, “Philanthropic partners know that money alone isn’t enough; they also know that community development organisations need expert advice and gap resources to be successful.” “The rapid assembly of this fund demonstrates how committed Baltimore funders are to matching the State’s pace and ambition.”
Maryland’s fight against a housing crisis
Maryland has tried a number of things to deal with its ongoing problem of empty homes.
The Reinvest Baltimore program was started by Gov. Moore’s executive order in October 2024. It brings together city, state, and non-profit resources to help revitalise neighbourhoods.
Later, Moore announced that he would be putting $50.8 million into the program to speed up the process of fixing up empty homes.
JPMorgan Chase, a company that has been in Baltimore for 130 years, announced in June 2024 that it would be investing $8.5 million in the problem of empty homes, with $6 million going to nonprofits working to solve the problem.
Baltimore City also passed a law that will triple taxes on empty homes starting in 2026 and go up to quadruple rates if owners don’t do anything.
In March of this year, Mayor Brandon Scott of Baltimore announced a plan to speed up the process of building new homes in the city while still ensuring safety and letting the community have a say.
The plan calls for an investment of $3 billion and creates a new position in the mayor’s office for a Director of Permitting and Development Services.
