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VICTORY: Mayor announces significant “down payment” to address abandoned & vacant house in Baltimore City after negotiations with BUILD

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On March 11, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced a $39 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) – with a commitment to increase that amount to $50 million – to address abandoned & vacant properties in Baltimore City. This will be the single largest investment to address this issue in Baltimore’s history. See the Baltimore Sun article.

This investment came after BUILD housing team leaders held repeated discussions and negotiations with the mayor and top city officials about the issue of approximately 15,000 abandoned & vacant properties in Baltimore City. Mayor Scott and BUILD have both called this a “down payment” on a more significant, multi-year strategy that will seek to address this community issue.

Mayor Scott has pledged to BUILD to co-lead on the $1 billion strategy to address abandoned & vacant homes discussed at our February 17 housing teach-in. See more here.

At the press conference, Mayor Scott and Congressman Kweisi Mfume recognized BUILD and the late Bishop Doug Miles for their work on this issue over the years which helped secure this kind of investment and support.

Thank you to all the BUILD leaders who attended the teach-in around this issue in February, ratifying an organization-wide push that made this win possible. There will be more work to do, but this is a significant victory and step forward.