On Monday, Senator Chris Van Hollen and Mayor Brandon Scott joined almost 1,000 Baltimore leaders, residents, and supporters at 1100 Greenmount Avenue to celebrate a major leap forward in the community-driven revitalization of East Baltimore’s Johnston Square neighborhood. With the Grand Opening of The Hammond at Greenmount Park, Johnston Square leaders and partners have now completed the transformation of an entire block of vacant lots into a new four-story building containing 109 affordable income-integrated apartments and the first new branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in over 15 years.
The Hammond at Greenmount Park was spearheaded by a redevelopment partnership comprised of Somerset Development Company, New Community Partners, and ReBUILD Metro. Its 109 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments will offer affordable rental housing to families earning from under 30% up to 80% of area median income, including 12 formerly homeless families who will receive permanent supportive housing and dedicated support services. The building offers free wi-fi to all residents, robust resident services, and a spacious community room where Hammond residents and Johnston Square community members can gather for community-building activities.
Read More About the Grand Opening of this Transformative Project:
- Baltimore Banner: Johnston Square’s latest sign of progress: 109 new apartments and a library branch
- WMAR-TV: A facelift for Baltimore’s Johnston Square
- WYPR: New apartment complex in Baltimore named after community leaders
- The Afro: Reviving Johnston Square: New housing and library signal community renewal
- Technical.ly: A new East Baltimore affordable housing complex taps the city’s unique fiber network to offer low-cost internet
The new Johnston Square Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, which occupies 9,000 square feet on the building’s ground floor, is the result of an innovative public-private partnership between a real estate development team, a community, and a public library system. Along with a robust collection of books, the new library will be a hub of world-class technological resources and interactive spaces and programs for teens, children, and families. The library will provide a safe and healthy space for learning and personal development, filling a major need in a section of East Baltimore that has been lacking in social infrastructure and services for years.
The Hammond at Greenmount Park is named in honor of Regina and Keith Hammond, leaders of the Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization who for the last 12 years have been organizing their neighbors to rebuild and improve their community without any displacement. The Hammond is a centerpiece of the 2020 Johnston Square Vision Plan, in which community residents created a roadmap for the block-by-block redevelopment of hundreds of abandoned properties and vacant lots across Johnston Square into an array of new mixed-income homes, small business opportunities, and parks and greenspaces. As The Hammond opens, over 200 other properties or parcels across Johnston Square have also been restored or are currently under redevelopment, including the conversion of over 70 vacant lots behind the Hammond into a new 4-acre park and playing field that will bring together residents from Johnston Square and beyond.
The project was financed by a number of partners, including Capital One, Boston Financial, Chase Bank, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs.
We would like to thank our city and state leaders who joined us to celebrate this major milestone, including Senator Van Hollen, Mayor Scott, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, Maryland Housing Secretary Jake Day, Maryland Senator Cory McCray, Council President Zeke Cohen, Councilmember Jermaine Jones, and many others. Thanks also to Harkins Builders, Habitat America, Quinn Evans Architects, and to all of our project collaborators who brought this powerful project to life and will be sustaining it over time.
Lastly, we continue to extend our gratitude to Regina Hammond and the dozens of Johnston Square residents who are driving this work forward and creating a blueprint for Baltimore’s future. Together, we’re not just rebuilding homes—we’re restoring hope, creating opportunity, and laying the groundwork for a vibrant future in Johnston Square where every resident can thrive.
Photo Credit: Ki Seldon, Photographer/CEO of Defiant Shots
