Baltimore, MD

Client: Baltimore Housing, City of Baltimore

Team of experts: Lisa Mueller Levy, Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Jennifer Leonard, Smart Growth America; Frank S. Alexander, Emory University School of Law; Daniel Kildee, Genesee County Land Bank and Genesee Institute; John Kromer, Fels Institute.

Description of work:

The success of the city’s acquisition program has resulted in the city owning large numbers of properties; Baltimore Housing requested assistance from the National Vacant Properties Campaign in developing stronger systems to manage its inventory of properties, track progress and work done on them over time, and more effectively deal with vacant lots, which often have less developer appeal due to their size and location. In addition, Baltimore is interested in exploring ways of improving its tax foreclosure system.

This targeted implementation TA is underway and has comprised two site visits in 2005, which will result in recommended action steps by early 2006.