If the government-initiated redevelopment of Essex?s once-blighted Kingsley Park apartments is going to be a moneymaker, Baltimore County is going to have to chip in a little more, officials said Tuesday.
The county is negotiating a contract with Enterprise Homes and the Mark Building company, the only team to submit a proposal for the development project considered a test of County Executive Jim Smith?s flagship “renaissance” initiative for aging Beltway communities. But the Baltimore-based company couldn?t design a profitable model under stringent federal regulations and needs the county?s help, county spokesman Don Mohler said.
He said the county will give Enterprise Homes the 18-acre site and may help with infrastructure costs or assist with financing.
“We didn?t know if we would be compensated for the land, and we need to determine what we?ll have to put in,” Mohler said. “This is what made this renaissance project so challenging and why we?re so excited it?s coming to fruition.”
The deal comes almost 40 months after the county purchased the blighted complex for $2.8 million, displacing about 300 families. The building was razed in January 2005, and the community completed a brainstorming process ? a “charette” ? to draft redevelopment guidelines last year.
Federal regulations require nearly 75 percent of the 200 replacement units to remain work force housing. About half of the total units will be available to families with incomes at or below an estimated $46,600. About 26 percent of the total units can be unrestricted, market-rate housing. Those restrictions, county officials said, discouraged greater interest from developers.
“I think it scared folks away,” said Mary Harvey, director of the county?s Office of Community Conservation.
Enterprise Homes President Chickie Grayson said company representatives attended charette meetings and have worked on similar projects in Howard County, Baltimore City and near Washington.
