Affordable housing is difficult to find, especially for Baltimoreans trying to overcome poverty. On Wednesday, however, Homes for America cut the ribbon on 83 affordable apartments at Clare Court II Baltimore’s historic Waverly/Ednor Gardens-Lakeside neighborhood.
The $31 million project is located at 3725 Ellerslie Ave. Clare Court II includes five “Permanent Supportive Housing” units for people lifting themselves out of homelessness in the Waverly and Ednor Gardens-Lakeside neighborhoods. An expansion of the original Clare Court, the community now offers a mix of renovated and newly constructed apartments, all affordable to households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income.
In February 2026, Dianté Edwards of Baltimore Beat reported on the city’s high vacancy rates while its residents simultaneously experienced a housing shortage of 33,000 units.
Credit: David Nitkin
In September 2025, Baltimore Fishbowl executive editor David Nitkin toured five neighborhoods in Baltimore that have seen a reduction in those vacancies, thanks in part to the efforts of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestmant Council. Of course, reducing vacancies only addresses the housing shortage if those buildings are repurposed as or replaced with housing units. Edwards’ article also expressed concern about the affordability of any new housing that became available.
“These factors [high vacancy rates and the housing shortage] combine to reduce housing affordability and place a heavy financial burden on city residents by elevating home prices and necessitating a high property tax rate,” Edwards wrote. The prescription Edwards called for involved homes that sold for $100,000 to $250,000 and apartments that rented for $1,000 to $1,500 per month.
Clare Court II apartments fit that bill, for the most part, with the one-bedroom model renting for $1,160 per month and the two-bedroom at $1,393 per month. Only the three-bedroom exceeds $1,500 per month with its $1,603 monthly rent.
Clare Court II is on an historic eight-acre campus first developed in 1917 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi as the St. Elizabeths Home for Female Colored Orphans. The orphanage on Ellerslie Avenue also operated as a school for children with special needs, a residential high school, the Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore’s motherhouse, novitiate, and infirmary for elderly sisters.
The thirty original apartments in the building were renovated, 12 new apartments were created through the adaptive reuse of former convent space, and a new three-story building was constructed that added 41 apartments. There are also newly renovated amenities the community shares, like a business center, a fitness room, a kids’ nook, and a kitchen, located in the restored Stone House Community Center.
These affordable apartments represent one of the first projects in Baltimore supported by the Housing Accelerator Fund and HOME-ARP resources. The Housing Accelerator Fund’s money comes from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) of 2021. The project also received financing from the Maryland Department of Housing & Community Development, Baltimore City, Cinnaire, the Weinberg Foundation, and Maryland State Bond Funds. Construction began in May 2025.
In attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Jake Day, secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development; Baltimore City District 14 Councilwoman Odette Ramos; Del. Regina T. Boyce (Maryland District 43A); Clare Court II resident Molene Martin; and more.
“Building affordable housing and supporting dignified, lovable places is central to the Department’s mission to transform communities into places people want to call home,” Day said. “Clare Court is a great example of this work, creating affordable units and community amenities for residents while retaining character and history in redevelopment. This project shows what we can accomplish in partnership — when nonprofits, developers and government work together to create more housing and more opportunities for Marylanders to thrive.”
