I.  Community Need

 A.   ​Target Population and Geographic Area. This proposal describes planning for Baltimore Modular, (BMod), an offsite modular construction ecosystem that will ultimately engage and benefit all of Baltimore City, with an initial focus on South Baltimore and the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Cherry Hill, Curtis Bay, Lakeland, Mount Winans, Pigtown, Saint Paul, and Westport, all of which are EPA IRA Disadvantaged Communities. These historically redlined, disinvested communities—separated by industrial zones, roads, highways, and railroad infrastructure—experience conditions of concentrated poverty and environmental hazards that disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income households who are often left behind by economic revitalization efforts. The target area population is over 32,700, roughly 80% of whom identify as people of color and 18% as Hispanic or Latino. According to ACS data from 2018 to 2022, per capita income was $19,825.02, less than a third of the state average.

B.   ​Community Needs. As noted in ReBUILD Metro’s January 2023 report, “Whole Blocks, Whole City: Reclaiming Vacant Property Throughout Baltimore,” vacant and dilapidated housing is both a symbol of community need and a source of further negative impacts. “While vacant, abandoned properties are not the only factor standing between residents of Baltimore’s low-income neighborhoods and a better quality of life, they are perhaps the most fundamental one, and certainly the most visible.” (Rebuild METRO WBWC, p.4) Furthermore, properties are not only abandoned, they stay that way: ReBUILD Metro found that 65% of Baltimore’s vacant properties are chronically vacant, up from 30% in 1980. Vacant buildings and an aging housing stock pose health and safety risks to communities in the form of increased indoor air pollution, decreased climate resiliency, lack of structural integrity, and increased risk of fire and other environmental risk factors, such as lead exposure. According to Baltimore City’s Open Data website, within the target area, 15.7% of housing units are unoccupied, or a total of 2,285 units. Vacancy is concentrated, such as zones in Westport with 65% vacancy and in Cherry Hill with 53% vacancy. These housing units are not only vacant, but also old—65% were built before 1960, or a total of 6,798 units, more than twice both the state and national average. The area has an average life expectancy of only 69 years old—almost a decade shorter than the national average—and the areas’ asthma rate is in the 98th percentile. Compounding these challenges to health and comfort is Baltimore’s wide temperature swings with about 27 days above 90°F every year.

Housing costs are a major source of economic pressure in these neighborhoods. Each area in this zone is above the 50th percentile nationwide for housing burden, meaning residents are both earning less than 80% of HUD’s Area Median Family Income and spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs.2 In the period from 2018-2022, residents of the target area experienced an unemployment rate of 9.82%, more than twice the national average, and less than 15% of residents had a post-secondary degree. While South Baltimore is host to land zoned for industrial or manufacturing uses, the number of jobs in the area is relatively low, resulting in long commute times due to poor public transit connections and low rates of vehicle ownership.

In response to these conditions, BMod focuses on three areas of community need: (1) affordable, safe, and healthy housing, (2) local, safe, healthy, low- and zero-emission workplaces; and (3) accessible career path opportunities, coupled with training matched to residents’ education levels.