Baltimore City Council Considers $8.5 Million Buyback of Properties Previously Sold for $175,000 for Homeless Housing
Baltimore officials are considering an $8.57 million proposal to buy back a block of properties on N. Howard Street that the city previously sold for $175,000. The properties, currently operating as the market-rate Howard Row Apartments, would be converted into 52 units of bridge housing for homeless families transitioning to long-term subsidized housing. The buildings are owned by companies linked to the Columbia-based Poverni Sheikh Group, which renovated them starting in 2018. The Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services plans to make units available as current tenants move out. The Baltimore spending board was scheduled to consider the purchase this week but deferred the vote until October 21 at the request of City Administrator Faith Leach. Councilman Zac Blanchard and Otis Rolley, president and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corp., have raised concerns about the purchase price and the location of the housing in a historically disinvested commercial corridor.
