New $100 million Baltimore fund targets vacant housing pipeline

Baltimore’s campaign to reclaim thousands of vacant properties is turning to a new financing push, with business leaders organizing investors ahead of a planned $100 million private capital fund.Working with national housing nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, the Greater Baltimore Committee plans to launch a Funders’ Consortium in November. It would connect lenders and other capital providers with an already-vetted pipeline of redevelopment projects.A year ago, Baltimore leaders outlined a redevelopment financing strategy backed by $1.2 billion in public commitments. Officials sought to attract $5 billion in private financing to address at least 37,000 vacant or vulnerable properties over 15 years. GBC’s proposed fund would provide one financing vehicle within that broader strategy.GBC’s announcement “marks the next step forward and opens up new opportunities for anyone interested in being part of Baltimore’s Renaissance,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement. Baltimore has a long history of inner-city neighborhood decay, brought by on deindustrialization and resulting population loss. The city has nearly 11,400 vacant buildings alone citywide, according to a tracking dash...