After a hard fought 16 week campaign and two straight weeks of negotiation with Sagamore Development, BUILD joined Sagamore Development, Plank Industries, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Council President Jack Young announced an historic agreement that will shift the development paradigm in Baltimore City. When we started this campaign, the Port Covington TIF’s citywide benefits guaranteed only $10 million for the city and 100 youth jobs for five years. By the time we finished, we had mandates for local hiring and affordable housing and a $135 million investment into workforce development, education needs, and more. It will help BUILD’s job movement, Turnaround Tuesday, put returning citizens and unemployed residents back to work; leverage funding to rebuild blighted communities like Johnston Square, Harlem Park West, Irvington, and many others; and provide recreation, after school programming and youth opportunities across the city. Has everything we went to the table to negotiate been won? No, but significant steps have been taken that create a new development paradigm for Baltimore City. We have a long way to go, but this is an historic start.
