Ballard Spahr Advises Housing Authority of Baltimore City on $1 Billion Redevelopment

A team of Ballard Spahr lawyers is advising the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) on a nine-phase $1 billion real estate development plan that will redevelop two sites—Somerset and Perkins Homes—in Baltimore's Oldtown neighborhood.

The HABC hosted a groundbreaking ceremony this morning at the site of the first building to be constructed as part of the Perkins Somerset Oldtown (PSO) Transformation Plan. This building will feature 104 apartments, 84 of which will be affordable to lower-income families, with the remaining 20 offered at market rate. The ground floor will include retail and parking.

The redevelopment plan will result in the building of a mixed-income community of 1,345 housing units covering 244 acres. It will be built in the Old Town neighborhood at the current site of Perkins Homes, which will be demolished, and the former Somerset development. In addition to housing, the plan provides for new infrastructure, including commercial and community spaces and a new park along Central Avenue. Total cost for the development, including the plan's new parks and schools, is estimated to be more than $1 billion.

The Ballard Spahr team is led by Partners Molly R. Bryson and Amy M. Glassman and includes Associate Courtney E. Hunter, all based in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. With more than 60 lawyers, Ballard Spahr's Housing Practice is one of the largest in the country. Attorneys in this group have advised more than 75 housing authorities across the country on the acquisition, development, expansion, and disposition of properties.