ReBUILD Metro has released a new guidebook titled Community-Driven Redevelopment, offering local leaders, community developers, and policymakers a step-by-step resource for rebuilding neighborhoods through a community-first approach.
Rooted in more than two decades of on-the-ground experience in East Baltimore, the guidebook serves as a blueprint for revitalizing vacant and distressed blocks without displacing longtime residents. It is the newest addition to ReBUILD’s Whole Blocks Toolkit, a growing library of resources designed to support equitable, mission-driven redevelopment efforts across Baltimore and beyond.
“Community residents know what their neighborhoods need,” said Sean Closkey, President of ReBUILD Metro. “As our City and State make historic investments to address Baltimore’s vacancy crisis, we hope this guidebook equips communities, developers, and public officials with strategies that honor local visions and keep residents at the center of change.”
Elevating Community Voices in Every Step of Redevelopment
At its core, the guidebook champions an eight-step model for community-driven redevelopment—one that prioritizes resident leadership, neighborhood planning, and sustained collaboration. The eight essential practices outlined in the guide include:
- Community Organizing – Building strong relationships, trust, and power among neighbors.
- Partnering with a Developer – Establishing formal and trusting partnerships between organized communities and qualified community developers.
- Identifying Local Needs – Conducting comprehensive neighborhood needs assessments through listening sessions, parcel surveys, and data analysis.
- Creating a Plan – Developing strategic “whole blocks” sequencing plans for redeveloping abandoned houses and distressed blocks across a neighborhood.
- Gaining Site Control – Securing Land Disposition Agreements from the City to gain site control for abandoned properties across a targeted redevelopment area.
- Community Vision Plans – Creating professional and comprehensive community-driven master plans for long-term community transformation.
- Financing Redevelopment – Assembling mission-driven investments and project subsidies.
- Launching Redevelopment – Strategically implementing community-driven redevelopment project and strategies through constant community collaboration.
This eight-step framework reflects ReBUILD Metro’s belief that true neighborhood revitalization cannot succeed without the voice and leadership of the communities it serves.
This guidebook, which was developed by ReBUILD Metro for the Baltimore Neighborhood Development Corporation (BNDC), is available both online and in print, thanks to support from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Abell Foundation, the Goldseker Foundation, the Clayton Baker Trust, the Lockhart Vaughn Foundation, the Middendorf Foundation, the Nabit Foundation, Fannie Mae, and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Explore the Guidebook
Read or download Community-Driven Redevelopment.
Explore the full Whole Blocks Toolkit and access more redevelopment resources.
