(Baltimore, Md.) — The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) announced today that it has selected Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) as its advisory and implementation partner to design a private capital strategy focused on accelerating neighborhood revitalization across Baltimore.

The announcement, made in conjunction with the Rockefeller Foundation’s Big Bets for America convening in Baltimore, marks the next phase of the City’s long-term effort to eliminate vacant properties and restore neighborhood housing markets at scale.

Enterprise was selected through a national Request for Information process based on its experience in housing finance, its long-standing work in Baltimore, and its capacity to design and implement complex, place-based investment strategies. The national housing nonprofit headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, has invested billions to create and preserve more than a million affordable homes and strengthen communities nationwide.

“This partnership will enable a collective effort to bring more capital to neighborhood revitalization and help stabilize communities where access to investment has historically been a challenge,” said Mark Anthony Thomas, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee. “Enterprise brings deep experience in catalyzing redevelopment, strengthening markets, and deploying capital that makes a real difference. This is a legacy opportunity for GBC and for how the private sector can support Baltimore’s communities for generations to come."

"Our city's Renaissance is here, and we want to make sure we're delivering investment and opportunity to every neighborhood," said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. "In partnership with GBC, we're bringing together City and private dollars to support key revitalization projects. Especially in neighborhoods that have faced decades of intentional disinvestment, we're being just as intentional with the projects we support, working to address key priorities like housing, public safety, small business development, and resources for our young people."

"The teamwork of the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore and civic partners like the Greater Baltimore Committee is fundamental to the Reinvest Baltimore initiative's strategy to reduce vacancy in Baltimore City,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. “The support of Enterprise Community Partners will accelerate this shared work by aligning the Governor's historic vacancy reduction investments, the Mayor's vacancy strategy and critical private investment to bring us closer to the prosperous Baltimore its residents deserve."

“Baltimore has a generational opportunity, the leadership, and momentum to drive sustained neighborhood revitalization at scale,” said Shaun Donovan, Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Community Partners. “Enterprise is proud to collaborate and build on our long-standing work in Baltimore and bring our experience designing place-based strategies and investment vehicles to this partnership with the Greater Baltimore Committee and other partners. We're grateful to the community leaders, residents, and public and private sector partners who are advancing this critical initiative and to Mayor Scott and Governor Moore for their leadership.”

“Selecting Enterprise Community Partners to advise on strategy and capital fund formation marks an important next step in the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative,” said Laura Gamble, PNC regional president for Greater Maryland and GBC board member. “Their development experience and financial expertise will help drive meaningful progress as we continue to focus on the economic revitalization of our communities.”

Over the next year, GBC and Enterprise will focus on identifying a pipeline of projects with current or potential public investment, aligning capital partners and establishing the structure required to launch a private capital fund that supports neighborhood-scale redevelopment.

This work includes supporting projects in neighborhoods where public investment is already underway, defining where capital can be deployed first and creating a consistent process for advancing deals and connecting them with investors. GBC, with support from Enterprise, will also pilot a Funders’ Consortium of banks, philanthropies, CDFIs and institutional partners to align capital around those opportunities.

Work will inform the need, design and implementation of a private capital investment strategy with the goal of supporting an initial set of projects and creating a repeatable model for investment as additional capital is raised. Over time, this approach is intended to allow capital to move more consistently into neighborhood projects, leverage and align with public sector investment, and support the restoration of local housing markets.

Support for this phase includes philanthropic investment from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

GBC is serving as the lead private-sector convener for this effort, working in partnership with the City of Baltimore, the State of Maryland, BUILD and other stakeholders to align public and private investment. The effort is designed to move beyond fragmented, project-by-project activity and toward a more coordinated approach to neighborhood redevelopment.

ABOUT THE GREATER BALTIMORE COMMITTEE
The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) is the leading voice for the private sector in the Baltimore region, providing insightful economic and civic leadership to drive collective impact. Comprising more than 300 organizations—including businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and healthcare and educational institutions—the GBC is dedicated to fostering the prosperity of the Greater Baltimore region. For more information, visit gbc.org.

ABOUT ENTERPRISE COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Enterprise is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $92.0 billion and created 1.1 million homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands – all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org.