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 dashboard, 1,000 fewer than a year ago.
Scott said the city has eliminated more than one in four vacant properties citywide but more needs to be done.
In some targeted neighborhoods, rehabilitation and construction costs exceed property values, making conventional financing difficult, according to GBC. Consortium participants would identify financing gaps and coordinate investment around projects where public spending is underway.
“This is an important next step in building the private-sector support needed to strengthen Baltimore’s neighborhoods,” GBC CEO Mark Anthony Thomas said in a statement. “There is significant investment and activity already underway.”
The consortium would precede the proposed fund, whose structure and financing products remain under development. Financial institutions and other capital providers can express interest before the November launch, according to GBC.
Organizing private capital
GBC selected Enterprise in April as its partner to create the private capital strategy.
They are developing an investment framework based on public spending, market conditions, development activity and project readiness. Neighborhood leadership would also help inform investment priorities, according to the announcement.
Participating institutions would share financing products, eligible uses, transaction sizes and underwriting requirements. A project review process would provide consistent information about development costs, existing commitments and remaining financing needs.
“Capital providers looking to invest in Baltimore need a clear path to the neighborhoods and projects where their dollars can make the greatest impact,” Maryland Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day said in a statement.
Day added that the consortium would clarify redevelopment opportunities and how private financing could support them.
David Bowers, Enterprise’s Mid-Atlantic market leader, said that its coordinated investment model has helped advance housing projects in Atlanta, Miami and Colorado. In Baltimore, the partnership would connect funders with vetted projects and coordinate investment to support revitalization without displacement.
According to GBC, the investment framework would help shape the fund’s criteria, structure and financing products. The consortium would identify where existing financing can support projects and where gaps remain.
GBC has hired Stephen Madsen to lead the initiative. He previously served as a director at Econsult Solutions, focusing on housing, economic development and public finance. His experience also includes housing policy analysis at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
Public financing advances
Since the mayor’s announcement last year, Baltimore has completed its first borrowing under its citywide affordable housing tax increment financing program. On Dec. 23, 2025, the city closed a $28.8 million bond sale that drew $389 million in investor orders.
City officials announced approximately $6.81 million in developer allocations to produce 56 homeownership and rental units. Recipients included Black Women Build-Baltimore, Neighborhood Housing Services and Rebuild Metro.
Another $682,870 supported infrastructure design and engineering for Upton Gateway II. That work would support 20 to 22 for-sale homes on 22 city-owned vacant lots along Edmondson Avenue.
State and city officials announced another $50 million for vacancy reduction in July 2026. Of that amount, $40 million went to community organizations, with $10 million designated for city acquisition, stabilization and demolition. More than 100 vacant homes were reported under construction at the time.
Maryland’s fiscal 2026 Reinvest Baltimore action plan describes a $3 billion public-and-philanthropic investment requirement. It identifies $1.2 billion in public funding sources and calls for assembling another $1.8 billion. Those sources include multiyear state commitments and city financing mechanisms.
The redevelopment partnership began in December 2023 with GBC, Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development and Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration. Last year’s announcement detailed the financing approach for their long-term vacancy strategy.
Rehabilitation and vacancy
Maryland’s fiscal 2026 action plan reported 756 rehabilitations of buildings with vacant-building notices during fiscal 2025. It set a fiscal 2026 target of 1,586. Those figures cover citywide activity, not just properties financed through the new initiatives.
Baltimore also recorded 667 new vacant-building notices in fiscal 2025. The plan projected 985 new notices in fiscal 2026.
Vacant-building reductions include both demolition and rehabilitation under the state action plan’s definition. Notices can be cleared after demolition or after renovation and issuance of a use-and-occupancy permit.
Housing rules change
Baltimore has also enacted several development changes proposed alongside its vacancy strategy. Scott signed four bills in November 2025 addressing parking, building design and zoning administration.
Those measures eliminated off-street parking minimums and allowed single-stair residential buildings up to six stories under revised code provisions. They also increased flexibility in building size and shape and moved the zoning administrator into the Planning Department.
The central missing-middle housing bill remains listed in the Land Use and Transportation Committee. Council Bill 25-0066 would expand low-density multifamily housing and residential conversion options. Its latest listed action is a February 2026 work session.
Separate legislation, enacted as Ordinance 25-048, allows receivers to offer vacant buildings to the city after unsuccessful public auctions. The measure gives Baltimore another acquisition option for properties that fail to sell.
The consortium would work with developers and capital providers on projects in priority neighborhoods, according to GBC. That work would inform the proposed private fund and identify financing needed to move projects forward.
