Report: More than $7 billion needed to address Baltimore City's vacant property crisis

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore inter-faith development group BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development) released report on city vacant properties.

It is calling for a $7.5 billion investment to address the problem.

The 14,332 vacant buildings in Baltimore is the lowest number in a decade.

A new report from the inter-faith group says it'll take at least $7 billion to address the vacancy problem to scale.

"Another vacant house has been vacant for so long, there's a tree growing out of it," said Rev. Andrew Connors, from Brown Memorial Church.

More than 100 people packed West Saratoga Street Thursday to call on urgent action to address vacant properties.

"Having vacant after vacant after vacant, it can put you, really, in a depressed state," said Baltimore resident Edith Gilliard.

Gilliard, who was born in Baltimore and lives a few blocks away, hopes something is done quickly about the vacant homes.

"Keep moving forward, and before we know it, we'll be looking at these homes and saying, 'It happened,'" Gilliard said.

Gilliard told WJZ she dreams of a future that, like her past, homes will be occupied and neighborhoods thriving.

"When nobody is present, when something isn't thriving, it gives more and more space for things to suffer," said George Hopkins, BUILD Co-Chairman and Sowebo Community Church.

Hopkins said it will take a multi-billion-dollar investment in blighted communities.

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"But, we believe that the issue we have is big and to just to Band-Aids, to do piecemeal will never solve the issue," Hopkins said.

"We must act with urgency," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.

Mayor Scott agreed that it will take billions with a third needing to come from public funds.

The mayor did not announce any specific additional public allocations, but joined in BUILD in calling for a "special purpose entity" dedicated to addressing the city's vacant housing crisis. 

The group is calling for $5 billion in private capital and $2.5 in public funding. He did make an appeal for private capital.

"If Oprah and Jeff Bezos want to cut us a check, Jeff you can pay for it today and you won't even blink," Mayor Scott said.

"Baltimore has more than a 15,000 vacant property problem," Rev. Connors said.

The report details 34,000 houses are at greater risk of vacancy simply being next door to one.

"If you only do it one at a time, you never get that transformational work an entire block, for the entire community," Hopkins said.

Faith leaders point to the work "Rebuild Metro" is doing here in East Baltimore, the non-profit has REBUILT hundreds of homes, block-by-block, focusing on revitalizing not just single properties, but entire neighborhoods. 

Paul Gessler

Paul Gessler is a general assignment reporter at WJZ with a decade of experience reporting in Baltimore.

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