Last night CPHA attended the City Council hearing on the proposed PILOT for the Lexington Square ( aka Superblock) mixed use development project. Since this project triggers the City’s inclusionary housing ordinance, this was a perfect opportunity to advocate for the importance of inclusionary housing in Baltimore.
CPHA’s Director of Community Engagement Tammy Mayer testified about the importance of high-quality housing for people of the lowest incomes in Baltimore, and emphasized that any housing developments that seek to bring young professionals to Baltimore City, a trend that would support the Mayor’s goal to bring 10,000 new families to the city, must consider affordability. An important way to entice potential residents to Baltimore’s new, attractive and walkable neighborhoods is to make them affordable.
CPHA supports Baltimore City’s efforts to find and allocate financing for affordable units in the Superblock project, according to the provisions of Baltimore’s inclusionary housing ordinance. The developer, while exempt from including affordable units in this development, is opting to make some of the units below market-rate.
While it is helpful that Baltimore Housing has a staff-person dedicated to monitoring the developments that might trigger the inclusionary housing law, the City can do much more to fulfill the requirements of the law.
To start with, pressure is needed on the Mayor and City Council to appoint the required Inclusionary Housing Board, and to finalize the regulations that are still in a draft format.
To communicate this message to your representatives at City Hall, see our page on contacting your public officials.
