JUST THE FACTS:

• Abandoned for more than a decade,

the former American Can site

became the first property in

Maryland to complete the state's

Voluntary Cleanup Program.

• A former manufacturing facility on

Baltimore's waterfront is now home

to an office complex that houses

1,525 employees.

• Partnerships among federal, state,

and local agencies, universities,

foundations, and private and

nonprofit organizations have

leveraged more than $185 million

towards Baltimore's cleanup and

redevelopment projects.

Redevelopment Opportunities

Taking Hold in Baltimore

Baltimore, MD

The City of Baltimore, Maryland has begun to see the rewards of its

brownfields revitalization efforts as several redevelopment projects get

underway, including the creation of information technology business

centers and the restoration of wetlands. In September 1998, the

Brownfields National Partnership awarded Baltimore its Brownfields

Showcase Community designation. Since then, Showcase Community

staff have helped spur these and other projects by creating partnerships

among federal, state, and local agencies, universities, foundations, and

private and nonprofit organizations. These partnerships have already

leveraged more than $185 million towards Baltimore's cleanup and

redevelopment projects.

Showcase Communities are selected by the Brownfields National

Partnership to demonstrate that through cooperation, federal, state, local,

and private efforts can be concentrated around brownfields to restore

these sites, stimulate economic development, and revitalize communities.

Showcase Communities serve as models for broad-based cooperative

efforts to support locally based initiatives. Showcases receive up to

$400,000 from EPA for both environmental assessments and to support the

loan of a federal employee to the Showcase for up to three years.

Showcase Communities receive additional financial and technical support

from the Partnership's more than 20 federal partners, depending on the

community need and program eligibility.

Baltimore has a substantial list of brownfields restoration successes that

led to its Showcase Community designation, and several projects following

the Showcase award that have been supported through the Brownfields

National Partnership. The former American Can Company building, for

instance, sat abandoned for more than a decade despite its location on

Baltimore's waterfront. Once a developer expressed interest, this

brownfield became the first property in Maryland to complete the state's

Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP). Partnerships emerged between the

developer and the state to finance redevelopment, resulting in $24 million in

funding from the developer and $1.5 million from Maryland. A Public

Works grant from the Economic Development Administration and financial

incentives available through the federal Brownfields Tax Incentive also

contributed to this project. The site is now a retail and office center that

brought nearly 700 new jobs to the city.

A former Proctor & Gamble manufacturing complex was in a similar

situation to the former American Can site, sitting abandoned on the

waterfront (with an even more valuable location at Baltimore's Inner

continued 

A former distribution center

is on its way to becoming 1.3

million square feet of office

and technology space that

will house at least 3,500

employees. Support for this

$100 million project has

come from EPA Showcase

Community staff, who helped

procure $9 million in HUD

loans and grants.

A view of one of Baltimore's

brownfields, prior to redevelopment.
CONTACTS:

For more information on EPA’s Showcase

Communities, contact Tony Raia of OSWER’s

Office of Brownfields Cleanup and

Redevelopment at (202) 566-2758

Or visit EPA’s Brownfields Web site at:

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Harbor). Following purchase by a developer and completion of the state's VCP, Baltimore

Brownfields Assessment Pilot staff assisted the developer in applying for and receiving $10 million in

city- and state-funded infrastructure improvements, as well as brownfields tax credits. Having

preserved the historic facades of the original complex, this site is now home to an

office complex that houses 1,525 workers, with the capacity for 175 more.

In the southwest area of the city, a former Montgomery Wards distribution

center is on its way to becoming 1.3 million square feet of office and

technology space that will house at least 3,500 employees. Support for this

$100 million redevelopment project has come from Brownfields

Assessment Pilot and Showcase Community staff, who helped procure a

$1 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grant and an $8

million HUD Section 108 loan. This project is located in an economically

distressed part of the city, and it is hoped that its success will serve as a

catalyst for revitalizing the area. The Maryland Department of the

Environment became the new building's first tenant during the spring of

2002. The developer is also working with the city government to establish a

First Source Hiring program to employ residents of the surrounding federal

Empowerment Zone. Partnerships with the city's Minority and Women's Business

Enterprise Program and the Baltimore Brownfields Worker Training Program will provide additional

opportunities for area residents.

Officials at the Baltimore National Aquarium, located at the Inner Harbor, are also working with the

Brownfields Showcase Community team to create the federal, state, and local partnerships needed to

develop a 60,000- to 80,000-square-foot Center for Aquatic Life and Conservation. In addition to

providing care for marine wildlife, Aquarium officials plan to use the center to teach visitors about

environmental stewardship by showing them the connections between themselves and the natural

world around them. The center will also be a training ground for inner city universities to develop

curricula and train students in marine biology, aquaculture, marine biotechnology, and marine health.

Aquarium officials have also formed a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create

new wetlands and habitat areas along the harbor. The Aquarium will use these new natural areas to

teach citizens and organizations about the importance of environmental preservation.

An ambitious redevelopment plan is also taking hold in the Carroll-Camden Industrial Park, located

just south and west of the city's Camden Yards sports complex. Using a three-pronged strategy of

selective public acquisition, private development incentives, and infrastructure improvements, this

former manufacturing center will be transformed into a modern business park for offices, technology

businesses, and traditional industry. EPA Region 3 has provided the Maryland Department of the

Environment with more than $400,000 to conduct Targeted Brownfields Assessments (TBAs) in the

heavily industrialized and underutlized Carroll-Camden area. The city is applying to HUD to use a

previously obtained $6 million HUD Brownfields Economic Development Iinitiative Section 108 loan to

assist with site acquisition along the Warner Street corridor.

Other brownfields restoration projects assisted by Baltimore's Showcase Community include

restoration of a 20-acre former public housing site, and redevelopment of the 30-acre Port Liberty site

into a $16 million auto import terminal and cable distribution facility that will create 375 jobs.

Showcase Community staff are also working with local associations, such as Revitalizing Baltimore

and the Parks & People Foundation, to formulate a strategy for reinvestment and to identify potential

federal, state, and other partner organizations to help restore these valuable assets.

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 500-F-02-153

Baltimore, MD and Emergency December 2002

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/