Today I learned possibly the most vital assest to my thesis in how to improve historic preservation within Baltimore city. The People's Homesteading group in Baltimore, located at 2114 Greenmount Avenue in an old hardware store. They got the Greenmount-Barclay local and national historic district designated, but for reasons I have never thought about before. What they do is take the $40,000 (20%) state tax abate and allocate it towards people's first mortgage, and then there is also a 10 year tax freeze, which is the tax incentive program the city provides for historic districts, (a very long process separate from just getting a district designated historic). Therefore, they have been fixing up homes to sell to not only well-off people, but also to low-income people, and both are extremely nice inside.
It seems like a good program, from the general overview they provided, however I am scheduling a meeting with them to learn the financial side and their long-term plan for when tax incentives expire.
The street view from google maps of the historic area.
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