Hogan hopes early Project C.O.R.E. frustrations are in the past

Gov. Larry Hogan admitted the slow start of a partnership aimed at demolishing blight in Baltimore was frustrating, but he expressed optimism the effort is gaining momentum under new city leadership.

The governor and Kenneth C. Holt, secretary of the Department of Housing and Community Development, estimated Project C.O.R.E., which stands for Creating Opportunities for Renewal and Enterprise, has achieved about 10 percent of its goals since being announced early last year.

“I’m putting heat on people every day to get more stuff done. But we’ve already accomplished quite a bit in a year, but we’re going to go even faster,” Hogan said.

Project C.O.R.E. was announced in January 2016 as an effort to spur development in city neighborhoods plagued by disinvestment. The partnership launched in the final year of former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s time in office and targeted 460 properties for demolition in its first phase.

Hogan said initial delays centered on the city obtaining permits for the demolition and that it was a topic he discussed with Mayor Catherine Pugh after she was sworn into office in December.

Project C.O.R.E. provides $94 million in state funds over four years to demolish blighted properties in the city. Baltimore is kicking in $18.5 million through various contributions.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development is also making $600 million in financing available to developers interested in investing in the properties when demolition is complete.

The governor’s comments followed a news conference on Friday celebrating the demolition of properties in the 1700 block of North Chester Street in east Baltimore.

The properties are being knocked down to make way for a community center backed by the nearby Southern Baptist Church. The demolition site is about a block from the Mary Harvin Senior Center that burned during the April 2015 riots and has since been rebuilt.

Donte’ L. Hickman Sr., senior pastor at nearby Southern Baptist Church, said there isn’t a dollar figure available for the project’s cost or a specific timeline to begin construction. He said the church is still working with developers and architects on a concept for the center.

“We’ve been very focused not just on brick and mortar development, but how we can transform lives. How do we restore people as we rebuild properties?” Hickman said. “We don’t want to see another area of gentrification.”

This is the second Project C.O.R.E. demolition touted by the governor and mayor in just more than two months. Previously, Hogan and Pugh celebrated the demolition of the Madison Park North complex in west Baltimore that residents dubbed the “Murder Mall.”

MCB Real Estate LLC and MLR Partners plan to redevelop the eight-acre site into a $100 million mixed-use development that includes an incubator facility, retail space and residential units.

Renewed activity for Project C.O.R.E. come after some community leaders in the city last summer raised doubts about the Baltimore’s ability to rebuild itself by demolishing properties.

The city for years has been trying to rid itself of vacant and blighted properties left over as Baltimore’s population declined from a high of about 950,000 in 1950 to roughly 621,000 currently.

During the Rawlings-Blake administration the city launched the Vacants to Value program to try and eliminate the blight. An Abell Foundation report called that effort the most enterprising blight elimination program in the city in 40 years.

But because of the shortcomings of that program, such as the leveling of 98 houses in the 2700 block of Tivoly Avenue that left an overgrown trash strewn lot, many residents remained skeptical of new promises that demolition could leverage new investment.