Pardon me if you’ve heard this already: Baltimore’s official count of vacant houses has dropped below 12,000. As of this week, it’s 11,558.  That’s significant.  Here’s why: For years, and more like decades, the number of vacants stagnated between 15,000 and 16,000, mostly for this reason: Despite all city efforts to seize and sell vacants, new abandonments kept pace with restorations; someone walked away from a rowhouse in West Baltimore even as someone in East Baltimore fixed one up.  As recently as 2023, a report from the Abell Foundation said the city had “nearly 15,000 houses with vacant building notices.” That level of vacancy, the report said, annually represented about $200 million in lost property tax revenue for the city. So, even with Vacants to Value and other programs, the number of empty, rundown homes became a constant (and depressing) fixture in our collective psyche: More than 15,000. Seeing the number below 12,000 takes some getting used to. Though word of this progress has slipped out in a few places, including in Mayor Brandon Scott’s State of the City address in late March, you’re forgiven if you’re just catching up. I was surprised to hear it myself during a conversation with Scott last week. “When I took office, Baltimore had 16,000 vacant properties,” he said. “That’s December the eighth, 2020. On December the eighth of 2000, when I was in high school, Baltimore had 16,000 vacant properties. Now it’s down to 11,000 and something.” And it’s not due to demolition. According to city data, fewer rowhouses are being knocked down; more are being restored. City records show 848 houses listed as rehabbed so far this year with only 36 demolitions.  The city has issued 397 new vacant building notices, but if the pace of rehabs continues well ahead of new abandonments, the number of vacants in the city could drop below 11,000 by next year. Rowhouses on Baylis Street in Remington That is pretty close to shocking for those of us who have been around through Baltimore’s population loss and witnessed the abandonment of thousands of properties in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. “We have [new housing] developments that are happening around town, they’re great,” said Scott. “But there’s also renovations happening in those neighborhoods and people are taking opportunities for programs, like Buy Back The Block.” That’s a program that helps turn renters into homeowners, and one of an array of city efforts to stabilize neighborhoods that have a history of neglect and abandonment. But the positive trend in turning vacants into occupied homes is driven by a demand for new housing, new sources of capital and some innovations in financing. In December 2023, Scott presented his $3 billion strategic plan to eliminate vacant housing. He put the city fully behind the push by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) and the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) to raise the funds needed to end the blight.  A few months later, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pledged state support, establishing the Reinvest Baltimore Program to coordinate efforts among city, state and private sources. Last summer, the state awarded $50 million in grants to the city, community development organizations and the Maryland Stadium Authority to demolish, stabilize and acquire vacant properties for redevelopment. The Scott administration says the city and state have pledged a combined $1.2 billion to deal with Baltimore vacants over the next decade, calling that level of funding “bigger than anything that has been done before.” The first portion of the city’s funding is being done through an innovative program to use Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) for residential properties.  Until now, TIFs had been associated with big developments in areas, like the Baltimore waterfront, already economically stable. The new Affordable Housing TIF program allows the city to use bonds — to borrow funds against anticipated property tax revenues — to help small developers and eager homeowners renovate properties across the city. Up-front grants from the city are essential to closing the appraisal gap — the challenging distance between the cost of renovation and a house’s market value — and that appears to be what the TIFs accomplish. “Instead of using TIFs as we did for Harbor Point or Baltimore Peninsula, we’re using TIFs for vacants,” Scott said. “It’s a way for us to also work with community development corporations and small developers to help renovate these houses and allow people to buy them at affordable [prices].” Earlier this month, the state Department of Housing and Community Development rolled out more incentives for Baltimoreans who buy renovated homes in certain areas of the city — one to reduce mortgage rates to 3.5%, another to provide up to $20,000 for down payments or closing costs. The state also announced another $50 million in grants to further reduce the number of vacants in the city. So, there’s a lot happening on this front, and the trends are good. If you’re just catching up, more information can be found on the Reframe Baltimore website. Dan Rodricks writes weekly for Baltimore Fishbowl. He can be reached via danrodricks.com ...read more read less