This webinar presentation, part of the Community Matters series from the Casey Foundation, highlights the story of community-driven redevelopment in Oliver, an East Baltimore neighborhood.

1. Community Development From the Ground Up:
An Innovative Approach in Baltimore’s Oliver Neighborhood
Nov. 10, 2015
#caseychat

2. Our Panel
Ryan Chao
Vice President for Civic Sites and Community Change
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Bishop Douglas Miles
Pastor, Koinonia Baptist Church
Co-Chair Emeritus, Baltimoreans United in Leadership
Development (BUILD)
Sean Closkey
President
TRF Development Partners
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Questions?
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4. I. Background on Oliver
II. Working With the Community
III. A Diverse Partnership
IV. Results
V. Lessons
Webinar Overview
#caseychat
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5. The Oliver
Neighborhood
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6. Oliver: Decades of Decline
1960s By 2000
• Jobs began
disappearing
• Little if any
investment
flowing into
community
• Middle-class
residents left
• Some churches
moved out of
the area
• Businesses
folded
• More than
1,100
abandoned
homes or
vacant lots
• Rampant drug
dealing
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7. In Oliver:
• Engaged the community
• Surveyed residents
• Brought together
churches
Working With the Community
Baltimoreans United in
Leadership Development
(BUILD):
• Long history of activism
• Success with West
Baltimore homes
Rob English (second from right) and Terrell Williams (far left) of
BUILD walk with residents in the Oliver community.
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8. Five churches:
• $1.2 million raised in the pews
Working With the Community
BUILD coordination:
• Churches purchased 200 properties
(many through tax sale)
Memorial Baptist Church:
• 150 members raised $3,000 per
month to acquire properties
• Total: $250,000/ 58 properties
Rev. Keene at Memorial Baptist Church.
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9. • BUILD: needed a partner
• The Reinvestment Fund:
CDFI with track record of
community development
• Joined forces to create
TRF Development Partners
A Diverse Partnership
+
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10. Strategy:
Build on Strength
A Diverse Partnership
Penn Station to the west*
Johns Hopkins Medical
campus and EBDI to the east
*Reprinted with permission from The Baltimore
Sun. All rights reserved. 9

11. • Rebuild and create homes
• Develop a real estate market
A Diverse Partnership
TRF Development Partners strategy:
• Generate wealth for residents
• Spur new investment
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12. A Diverse Partnership
“The most diverse
group [of funders]
I’ve ever seen.”
Total: $9.3 million in investment capital
• TRF DP and Rouse CEO Anthony
Deering: Goal to raise $10 million
• Deering, BUILD and TRF worked
together
• Investments from 23 foundations,
banks, churches and other
philanthropic organizations
• Casey committed the final $500,000
Anthony Deering, an experienced real estate
development leader.
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13. Training and Opportunity for Residents
A Diverse Partnership
A class at Jericho Reentry in East Baltimore.
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14. • 2008: First homes — modular
• Initial cost: $130,000
• Energy efficient
Results: New Homes
Preston Place, before and after.
“The first new houses in the Oliver neighborhood in half a century.”
— The Baltimore Sun
• Affordable to average worker
• Row house rehabs continue
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15. The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) Development Project:
Results: New Homes
lots
consolidated
for reuse
126
vacancy rate
reduced
61
percent
formerly
abandoned
properties
redeveloped
231
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16. Results: New Residents
Median income of
newcomers is
$41,000, more
than double the
average income of
community before
the project
1/3 Preston Place
residents moved
into Baltimore City
2/3 relocated from
within the city
1/2 Preston Place
residents who
relocated from city
homes were
from East Baltimore
(including Hopkins
employees, teachers and
city and state employees)
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17. 2006 and 2007: One home
sold for more than $100,000
Results: A Stronger Real Estate Market
Since then, more than 80 properties
have sold for prices higher than $100,000.
• Median price for home sales above $225,000
• Outlook strong for continued redevelopment 16

18. Results: Leveraging Investment
TRF DP: Rowhouse Rehabilitation on Broadway, before.
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19. Results: Leveraging Investment
TRF DP: Rowhouse Rehabilitation on Broadway, after.
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20. Results: Leveraging Investment
1256 Broadway, before.
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21. Results: Leveraging Investment
1256 Broadway, after. 20

22. • City Arts: 17 loft-style townhomes for artists
• City Arts Apartments: TRF DP, Homes for America
and Jubilee Baltimore: 69 energy-efficient apartments
• City Arts 2: 61-unit building two blocks north of the
original City Arts building
• TRF DP: Partnering with EBDI to rehab homes
• Come Home Baltimore: rehabbing and selling homes
• Lillian Jones Apartments: low- and moderate-income tenants
Results: Leveraging Investment
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23. City Arts: 17 Loft-style Townhomes for Artists
Results: Leveraging Investment
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24. Results: Leveraging Investment
City Arts Towns, before and after.
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25. Lesson 1: Community development requires patience and flexibility.
Lessons
First
homes
Launch
1990s
Early 2002
Partnership
developed
2008
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26. Lesson 2: Engaging the community is critical to earn buy-in.
Lessons
BUILD-TRF: An unusual partnership
Gary Crum, an Oliver resident.
Rob English of BUILD talks with an
Oliver resident.
Sean Closkey of TRF DP with an
Oliver resident.
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27. Funding:
• Baltimore City: property
acquisition
• Maryland Department of
Housing and Community
Development: closing costs and
purchase assistance
• Churches and nonprofit
community: other capital
Lessons
Lesson 3: Identifying innovative financing
for affordable housing should be a priority.
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28. Economically struggling
communities will not rebound
through new construction
or rehabilitation alone.
Lessons
Lesson 4: Creating new economic opportunities for residents
should be part of community development.
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29. Building From the Ground Up:
An Innovative Approach to
Community Development in
Baltimore’s Oliver
Neighborhood
www.aecf.org/resources/
building-from-the-ground-up
For more information:
media@aecf.org
Discussion and Questions
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