Why the B-more biotech bigwigs should vote Dem in November

April 10, 2008

This week, at an event related to the release of the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business’s annual “Trend Watch” report, attorney Ray Truitt of Ballad Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll made some interesting remarks about development, public housing and the relevance of the upcoming presidential election.

If a Democrat is elected president come November, he said, it is likely that HOPE-VI, the public housing improvement program spearheaded by Sen. Mikulski in 1993, will be resuscitated, “and that may be critical for the development of low-income and affordable housing.”

HOPE-VI is a program meant to help convert “severely distressed” public housing into more livable space. Since George W. Bush became president, however, the federal government has been cutting funding for the program every year.

To some, HOPE-VI is an invaluable lifeline of public money to improve public housing stock. To others, it is a way of tearing down poor people’s homes in order to replace them with mixed-income developments that are privately-owned, and generally more profitable for developers. The most recent issue of The Economist has an interesting article about the possible renewal of HOPE-VI in the next few months or years.

So what’s biotech got to do with it?

For one, the success of the new University of Maryland BioPark on Baltimore’s west side is inextricably tied to a corresponding neighborhood redevelopment effort in the surrounding communities, and it probably would not have moved forward if the city hadn’t cleaned up the public housing problems nearby. In 1999, HOPE-VI funds were used to tear down the notorious Murphy Homes — known as a hive of crime, drug-use, and violence—about a quarter-mile to the north, and to replace them with Heritage Crossing, a new, mixed-income development that looks much nicer on the urban landscape.

Over on the east side, East Baltimore Development, Inc., along with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Johns Hopkins, have taken great pains to integrate affordable housing development into the massive, $2B project that is the East Baltimore BioPark. If Hopkins wants to continue to have a productive relationship with the communities it is displacing in East Baltimore, it may be a good idea for the city to pursue HOPE-VI funds to redevelop some of the troublesome housing projects nearby – Somerset, Somerset Courts, Monument East, Pleasant View Gardens, Douglass Homes, Somerset/Chase, and the Latrobe Homes.

It remains to be seen, of course, if HOPE-VI’s tear-down-and-rebuild formula is the healthiest solution for problematic public housing developments. It is also unclear whether or not selling market-rate housing alongside publicly-subsidized housing — Section-8 housing, for example — is even financially tenable.

What do you think is the best way to address the public/affordable housing issue as it relates to Baltimore’s new, large-scale developments?

ROBBIE WHELAN, Business Writer

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Jackie Sauter | Filed Under Baltimore, business, johns hopkins, real estate, university of maryland-baltimore 

Comments

One Response to “Why the B-more biotech bigwigs should vote Dem in November”

  1. Paul Furlong on April 14th, 2008 10:59 am

    From that Economist article it looks like HOPE-VI funds worked out well for the community in Chicago. It will be interesting to see if the same will hold true in Baltimore as the racial/economic divide between the “desirable” areas and the current housing projects is so stark.

    If such a program were to be put in place it would have to go hand-in-hand with social programs that offer serious support for many Baltimore families looking to live in the mixed-income communities.

    This said, if mixed-income communities could give Baltimore children access to better schools let’s go for it.

Got something to say?





  • Law

  • Business

  • Archives

  • Visit Eye on Annapolis

    Check out our blog on the legislative session, Eye on Annapolis.

  • Categories

Business

The business staff of The Daily Record newspaper will contribute to this section. We'll write about topics ranging from the workplace to energy to the environment, but we'll strive to keep it as local as possible.

RSS Business posts

Law

The Daily Record’s been Maryland’s legal newspaper for 120 years or so. Now, we want to be Maryland’s legal blog, too. Click here to join the discussion and read posts by our legal team, including our Monday law blog round-up.

RSS Law posts

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

  • Graham: It’s the safe bet, but not a bad one. Of the other designs, two of them faced Charles Street with a...
  • Bond: Great looking forward thinking building! Finally something in that neighborhood that will overshadow the...
  • Sam: Trademark infringement?
  • Sam: Agree with Bobby, but not a shock…it is UB.
  • bobby: I think it’s the absolute WORST out of the 4 designs. I’m hoping it doesn’t go up.

On Commenting

We ask that our readers follow a few guidelines, noted below.

Please do not post any personal attacks, profanity, spam or other advertisements — they will be removed. Also, please post using only one name or pseudonym, as this consistency helps establish a sense of community. We will delete posts if they are signed with different names but originate from the same IP or email address. And if you’re going to comment using a proper name, please make it your own. Deliberate misrepresentations will be removed.