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Pennrose and Park Heights Renaissance Celebrate Groundbreaking of Renaissance Row Apartments

sep. 22, 2020

News

Renaissance Row Groundbreaking

Redevelopment includes 84 units of affordable housing for low-income families and the new headquarters of Park Heights Renaissance

Pennrose, Park Heights Renaissance (PHR), and local and state officials celebrated the groundbreaking at Renaissance Row Apartments in the Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. The development team recently closed on financing for Renaissance Row, the redevelopment of blighted housing at the intersection of Park Heights and Rosewood Avenues in Baltimore, Maryland. The brand-new, mixed-use development will deliver 84 units of affordable housing to low-income families.

Situated on the north side of Rosewood Avenue, just east of Park Heights Avenue, Renaissance Row will feature 42 one-, 35 two-, and seven (7) three-bedroom apartments in a four-story building. Of the total units, eight are set aside for residents earning up to 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) while the remaining 76 units are reserved for residents earning up to 60% AMI.

“The redevelopment of Renaissance Row will demolish a blighted, underutilized site and replace it with much-needed, high-quality affordable housing,” said Ivy Dench-Carter, Regional Vice President at Pennrose. “We’re proud to work with Park Heights Renaissance to help carry out the Master Plan for the community and improve the quality of life for both residents and neighbors.”

Speakers at the event included Jack Young, Mayor, Baltimore City; Brandon Scott, Council President of Baltimore City Council; Alice Kennedy, Interim Commissioner with DHCD; Antonio L. Hayes, Senator, District 40 of the Maryland State Senate; Sharon Green-Middleton, Councilwoman, District 6; Janet Abrahams, Executive Director, Housing Authority of Baltimore City; Tiffany Royster, Board President for Park Heights Renaissance; Kimmel Cameron, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions/Underwriting with Hudson Housing; Augie Chiasera, President, Greater Baltimore/Chesapeake Region, M&T Bank; Yolanda Jiggetts, Executive Director with Park Heights Renaissance; and Ivy Dench-Carter, Regional Vice President with Pennrose.

“This development project represents the years of dedication and partnership with Pennrose, local residents, City and State officials, and private funding partners to provide more affordable housing opportunities for the residents in Park Heights,” said Yolanda Jiggetts, Executive Director of Park Heights Renaissance. “Renaissance Row begins the momentum towards restoring hope and opportunities that will afford existing residents opportunities for affordable housing, but will also be an opportunity to attract new residents to join the Park Heights community,” 

In addition to the high-quality housing, residents will have access to an array of on-site amenities, including a fitness center, teen room, resident storage area, parking, courtyard, and outdoor green space. The development also includes on-site management offices and approximately 2,300 square feet of office space that will serve as the new headquarters for Park Heights Renaissance (PHR), a nonprofit, community development corporation dedicated to revitalizing the Park Heights neighborhood.

The new headquarters space for PHR will allow them to further their mission of implementing the Baltimore City Park Heights Master Plan, which includes land and economic development alongside human development. The vision for PHR includes creating a community of physical and social well-being, character, and opportunity in a neighborhood where they strive to create more safe and affordable housing. PHR seeks to empower residents and create a healthy environment, offering many supportive services to the community to assist in this mission. These services will extend to residents of Renaissance Row, and PHR will also separately manage the supportive services program at the building for the residents living there. These services offered to residents will seek to meet the goals of fostering resident self-sufficiency, promote education, maintain optimum resident health, and maintain working relationships between residents. The benefit of residents of Renaissance Row being located within the same building as the PHR headquarters and being near all of these services cannot be overstated.

The redevelopment received widespread political and financial support from both the State of Maryland and the City of Baltimore in order to move forward. The Department of Housing and Community Development of the State of Maryland contributed a direct loan backed by the FHA (HUD), along with an issuance of multifamily bonds, 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a Rental Housing Funds loan and Rental Housing Works loan. The City of Baltimore also made substantial contributions through the issuance of soft loans through the City Bond Program and City Slot Funds Program, as well as a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) and a seller-take back note for the land purchase. The tax credit equity generated by the 4% LIHTCs contributed by Maryland DHCD was syndicated by Hudson Housing Capital and is being contributed to the project as equity through M&T Bank.

Pennrose has been active in the Mid-Atlantic region for over three decades, developing over 17,200 units of housing in over 265 developments with extensive experience in community revitalization projects. Most recently, Pennrose closed on financing for the 33-acre Residences at North Hill development in Alexandria, Virginia. The development will deliver 216 affordable family apartments, 63 units of affordable senior housing, and 175 market-rate, for-sale townhomes in Fairfax County.