Mayor Brandon M. Scott Announces First Round of City-Wide Affordable Housing TIF Bonds Close with Strong Market Demand
BALTIMORE, MD (Wednesday, January 7, 2026) — Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced that the first series of the City-Wide Affordable Housing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Bonds closed on December 23 to a robust market response. This Affordable Housing TIF is a first-of-its-kind tool that plays a pivotal role in making Reframe Baltimore, Mayor Scott’s 15-year $3 billion vacants reduction plan, possible.
In this round of funding, the City offered $28.8 million in funding to prospective investors that would be used to invest in rehabilitating vacant properties and public infrastructure citywide. The City received offers worth $389 million — 13.4 times the amount of funding offered, showing strong demand for redeveloping vacants.
“This unprecedented use of TIF bonds is a fundamental tool in our strategy to end the vacants crisis for good over the course of the next 15 years — and the demand for funding that we’re seeing shows that people believe in Baltimore’s Renaissance,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “I’m grateful to all of the folks betting on Baltimore, the team from DHCD and the Department of Finance who helped make this happen, and most importantly: to all of the Baltimoreans who saw the beauty and the promise in their neighborhoods, even when no one else did. This is about building a safer, healthier Baltimore, where all of our residents can find a home that fits their needs.”
Reframe Baltimore, first announced in December 2023 in partnership with BUILD and GBC, has served as the foundation of Baltimore’s effort to tackle the decades-long issue of vacant housing, which now includes unprecedented partnership from Governor Wes Moore and state government. Under the Mayor’s leadership, the City-wide Affordable Housing TIF was adopted by the City Council in December 2024, marking a significant change in how the City funds community redevelopment work.
TIFs, a commonly utilized financing tool, allow cities to borrow money upfront, usually through bonds, and repay that debt using the future increase in property tax revenue from a designated area where new development or renovation occurs. Baltimore has successfully utilized TIFs often throughout the city’s history to fund major development projects. However, Baltimore’s City-wide Affordable Housing TIF is the first time that the same tool has been applied this way to drive reinvestment in neighborhoods affected by vacants.
What the bonds will help fund:
- Increase resources for community development
- Close the appraisal gaps and increase property tax revenues
- Build wealth and equity by emphasizing homeownership
- Emphasizes equity: priority given to legacy residents, households earning 60% of area median income, small and emerging developers
- Supports a whole-block redevelopment
- Funds project city-wide and infrastructure improvements
Program allocations from this initial sale:
- Affordable Housing Program - $16,127,950
- Supports applicants through Executed Land Disposition Agreements (LDA) and Property Award Letters
- Expands the Developer Registry in Broadway East, CHM, East Baltimore Midway, and Southwest Partnership
- Provides assistance to Property Owners/Legacy Residents
- Approved Affordable Housing Developers - $6,812,162
- TIF funds allocated to six developers to produce 56 homeownership and rental units
- Developers include Black Women Build-Baltimore, BWB Baltimore, LLC, 1426 DHA LLC; Blank Slate Development; Neighborhood Housing Service (NHS); Rebirth Development; Rebuild Metro; and Row House
- Upton Gateway II Infrastructure Design and Engineering - $682,870
- Funds engineering and design work to enable new public infrastructure
- Project supports construction of 20–22 new for-sale units on 22 city-owned vacant lots in the 800 block of Edmondson Avenue
“These bonds represent a significant milestone in Reframe Baltimore, reinforcing Mayor Scott’s financial commitment to reducing vacancies and promoting equitable neighborhood development, while not requiring any special tax, said Finance Director Michael Mocksten. “The results to date clearly demonstrate strong market confidence in our approach and investor demand, providing critical capital to accelerate affordable housing, improve infrastructure, and expand opportunities for residents and local businesses.”
“The City is authorized to issue up to $150 million in these bonds to fund ongoing affordable housing and vacancy reduction initiatives in support of the $3 billion, 15-year plan,” noted Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy. “These funds are to be utilized for hard construction costs to restore vacant buildings and certain public infrastructure improvements so that construction of new housing can proceed. All this work will keep our momentum going for the reduction of vacants in Baltimore, which are down by 23% since the beginning of 2020.”
The TIF District includes 8,570 properties located in approximately 197 neighborhoods, including Impact Investment Areas and communities specifically targeted by DHCD to reduce vacancies and promote new development.
Learn more about the City-Wide Affordable Housing TIF.
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