Stadium Square To Soon Offer Affordable Housing for Police Officers

The $275 million-plus Stadium Square redevelopment in Sharp-Leadenhall and South Baltimore will soon add affordable housing for police officers to its project. Project developer Caves Valley Partners (CVP) is currently renovating three rowhomes that will be offered at below-market rates to officers.

This opportunity came about for CVP when its proposed affordable housing building for veterans on the 100 block of W. Cross St. stalled. The site of the planned 30-plus unit building is at the southeast corner of Leadenhall St. and W. Cross St., an area currently occupied by five rowhomes. The location is also adjacent to the new apartment building Hanover Cross Street. The plan is to use the front facade of the homes as part of the new affordable housing building, which will also have ground floor retail.

CVP has acquired four of the homes, but has been unable to acquire the fifth home, which is owned by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC). CVP offered to create another affordable housing home nearby where the current tenant would be relocated.

The HABC property, along with more than 30 others in the area, received a Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) tax credit for financing. Arsh Mirmiran of CVP told SouthBMore.com that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which regulates DHCD, has been unwilling to swap out the unit despite the fact that the site would get 30-plus new affordable units and that the current affordable home would be relocated nearby. Mirmiran said Baltimore City and the State of Maryland have been very helpful in this process, but no progress has been made.

The affordable housing covenant on the home expires in four-and-a-half years. CVP will start the veteran affordable housing building at that time if this situation is not resolved before then.

In the interim, CVP is renovating two of the homes on the block and will rent them out to police officers. CVP also purchased another home on the 1100 block of Leadenhall St. that will be leased to officers for the “foreseeable future.” These homes will not receive any affordable housing tax credits, but will be offered at a discounted rate by CVP.

“We think more officers living in the City is a great goal and one with which we would like to help,” Mirmiran told SouthBMore.com in an email. He noted that CVP would like to do similar things in the future if tax credits become available.

The homes will be available on January 1st.

Stadium Square is on three blocks of South Baltimore and Sharp-Leadenhall located between Cross St. on the north, Race St. on the east, Leadenhall St. on the west, and both sides of Ostend St. to the south. The project will have approximately 600 apartments, 2,000 parking spaces, 450,000 sq. ft. of office space, and 75,000 sq. ft. of retail.

Already completed at Stadium Square is the 299-unit Hanover Cross Street apartment building with 14,000 sq. ft. of retail, as well as the 72,000 sq. ft. office building 145 W. Ostend St. which is more than 50% leased. Construction recently began on the 2,400 sq. ft. Leadenhall Community Center. The next project at Stadium Square will be the repurposing of the former four-story Vac Pac building at 150 W. Ostend St. into a 30,000 sq. ft. office building with ground floor retail.

CVP is also working with the community and Baltimore City Recreation and Parks on a new Master Plan for Solo Gibbs Park.

Rendering of the proposed affordable veteran housing building courtesy of Design Collective

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.