Yesterday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott and other city and state leaders joined over 100 Johnston Square residents, partners, and supporters on the 700 block of Mura Street to celebrate the completion of Mura Street Homes. Through this community-driven “whole block” redevelopment, ReBUILD Metro has restored 18 blighted and abandoned rowhouses on the 700 block of Mura Street into 10 new homes, completing the revitalization of this long-deteriorated Johnston Square block and preserving the houses of Mura Street’s legacy residents.
With the completion of Mura Street Homes, Johnston Square’s vacancy rate has now fallen to 10% for the first time in decades—a 50% decrease in neighborhood vacancy since 2023.
ReBUILD Metro worked with architect Twopoint Studios and Clipper Construction to redesign and combine 16 of the 18 redeveloped houses on Mura Street into 8 new double-wide homeownership opportunities. 7 of these 8 homes have now been sold or are under contract to future homebuyers. In addition, ReBUILD partnered with local artist Yewande Kotun Davis to install a mural on the block celebrating Mura Street’s generations of history and future growth.
Mura Street Homes is one phase in a comprehensive block-by-block neighborhood revitalization partnership between ReBUILD and Johnston Square leaders and residents. With the completion of Mura Street homes, ReBUILD has now rebuilt or codeveloped over 230 homes in Johnston Square since 2018—including the award-winning 109-unit Hammond at Greenmount Park—and is currently rebuilding another 22 abandoned houses in the neighborhood.
Mura Street Homes received significant funding from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Homeownership Works program—a pilot program that informed the Department’s current statewide UPLIFT program—as well as from the City of Baltimore’s City-Wide Affordable Housing Tax Increment Funding (TIF) program. The project was also supported by mission-based investments from numerous local individuals, families, and foundations.
Mura Street is more than a series of revitalized houses. It is an embrace of a history worth saving, a celebration of the people who upheld this history through decades of hard times, and an emblem of a brighter future in Johnston Square—a future we are creating together, as One Baltimore.
We would like to thank our city and state leaders who joined us to celebrate this major milestone, including Mayor Scott, Maryland Housing Assistant Secretary Kari Snyder, Maryland Senator Cory McCray, Council President Zeke Cohen, Councilmember Jermaine Jones, and many others. Thanks also to Clipper Construction, Twopoint Studios, Kim Barton Group, and to the countless other partners that made the revitalization of Mura Street possible. Together, we have brought new life to a historic block and created a legacy for generations to come.
Photo Credit: Ki Seldon, Photographer/CEO of Defiant Shots
