Our Plan
In March 2020, the Johnston Square Partners completed and received approval from the City for the Johnston Square Vision Plan, a comprehensive strategy based on a year of planning and input from over 100 residents and stakeholders. We are now working together to implement the goals of the Plan, relying on our tried-and-true model of community-driven reinvestment, intensive regeneration of abandoned properties, and data-supported neighborhood solutions.
Transforming Johnston Square will involve $160 million in local investments, including: infill redevelopment of abandoned properties into for-sale and rental homes; multifamily and mixed-use developments; commercial and manufacturing spaces for local workers and entrepreneurs; and a network of year-round parks, playgrounds, gardens, and greenways. These investments are already underway: we have rebuilt a cluster of 13 abandoned properties, advanced construction of a 60-unit affordable apartment building, and supported the $2 million revitalization of Henrietta Lacks Park into a state-of-the-art recreational facility. Our work will be supported by $10 million in impact investments from Baltimore residents, along with substantial support from the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, and several philanthropic partners.
This project will complete ReBUILD’s 20-year plan to stabilize an area of East Baltimore between Penn Station and Johns Hopkins Hospital into a sustainable and right-sized network of safe, healthy, opportunity-rich communities without displacing their existing residents. We believe this plan will become a model for the recovery of Baltimore’s hyper-segregated high-poverty areas.
Our Impact to Date
The Greenmount and Chase project, a partnership with Ingerman Development, was designed to be a linchpin in this rebirth of Johnston Square’s struggling Greenmount Avenue corridor—a symbol of a growing neighborhood and a sign of more reinvestment to come. This $16.6 million development, which we completed in early 2021, is now home to 60 low-income residents or families, including 11 differently-abled residents and 4 with supportive housing needs.
We are already looking ahead to our next major reinvestment: another four-story apartment with street-level stores just across the street. Outside of their windows, residents of Greenmount and Chase will soon see more change occurring on this corridor as we continue to replace the vacancy that remains with new homes, businesses, and parks.
