Two organizations are working together to create a $100 million fund that would provide private capital to help major investments in Baltimore neighborhoods.
The Greater Baltimore Committee and Enterprise Community Partners say they are actively searching for financial institutions and capital providers to participate in a new initiative, called the Funder’s Consortium, expected to launch in November.
Mark Anthony Thomas, the president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, said in a statement that “significant investment and activity already underway” throughout Baltimore, and the that the new fund will help direct capital to what they are calling “a pipeline of vetted projects.”
“We want to make it easier for capital providers to see those opportunities, work together, and help move projects that can strengthen neighborhood housing markets,” Thomas said.
David Bowers, a Mid-Atlantic region vice president for Enterprise, said the new effort will provide “real insight into the city’s housing market” for public and philanthropic investers, and that revitalization can take place “without displacement.”
Baltimore leaders have been focusing time and money on reducing the number of vacant homes in the city, which has dropped from 16,000 to about 11,400 through work of various initiatives. Baltimore Fishbowl recently visited the five neighborhoods that have seen the greatest reduction in vacants.
Adovocates and experts say that homes within 200 feet of a vacant property sell for 8% to 30% less than comparable homes, making vacancy a significant barrier to neighborhood housing-market recovery.
The new Funders’ Consortium would supplement $1.2 billion in public funding committed toward vacant reductions. GBC has hired a new leader to oversee the project. Stephen Madsen had been a director at Econsult Solutions, Inc. focusinging on housing, economic development and public finance. He previously worked on housing policy and program analysis with the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
Financial institutions and other capital providers interested in participating in the Funders’ Consortium can contact Stephen Madsen at smadsen@gbc.org.
