Affordable Apartments Dealt Setback, County Won't Give Builder More Money

TOWSON, MD — A controversial affordable housing development was dealt a setback this week in Baltimore County.

Red Maple Place, a proposed apartment complex in Towson, will not get a $2 million loan from the Baltimore County Council. Multiple news reports said the council voted unanimously Monday to reject the loan proposed for the project.

The Baltimore Banner said the 56-unit apartment complex would neighbor the community of Historic East Towson, a predominantly Black area that was founded after the Civil War by people who were enslaved. WYPR reported that residents worry Red Maple Place would decrease green space and worsen flooding, but the county thinks stormwater runoff will actually improve.

Council Chair Mike Ertel (D-Towson) represents the district where Red Maple Place would be built

"This project from the beginning was tough in the sense of where it was. It could’ve been moved to a more suitable spot; it wasn’t. I just don’t see why we would continue to want to put more money into this project," Ertel said, according to WBFF.

WYPR said Homes for America first pitched the four-story Red Maple Place in 2018. The Baltimore Sun said Dana Johnson, president and CEO of the Annapolis nonprofit, was "deeply disappointed" that the council rejected the loan.

"This development will provide high-quality, affordable homes in Downtown Towson, with excellent access to public transportation, jobs, and high-performing schools," Johnson said in a statement obtained by The Sun. "Homes for America remains committed to this vision and will continue working to identify the funding necessary to move the project forward—despite the dramatic inflation caused by years of costly legal delays."

WYPR said the county gave Homes for America a $2.1 million loan in 2019. Planners requested this additional loan because ensuing legal challenges and rising material costs have inflated the construction price per unit from roughly $400,000 to over $600,000, The Sun said.

"There’s something flawed in the way we’re approaching this if it’s extraordinarily expensive to build a single unit, and so I just wonder if it’s time to kind of rethink how we do it," Council Member Izzy Patoka (D-Pikesville) said, according to The Sun. "Because this clearly is unaffordable, not only for Baltimore County, but for any jurisdiction, especially during these tough budget times."

Baltimore County signed a voluntary consent agreement with the federal government in 2016 to build 1,000 affordable housing units by 2027, The Banner reported. The county had 908 of the necessary units as of July 1, The Sun said.

"No one on this council is against providing more affordable housing," Ertel said, according to WYPR. "We know we have an issue."

The Banner reported that Red Maple Place would be situated between East Joppa Road and East Pennsylvania Avenue, east of Fairmount Avenue. The Banner said a lot sized just over an acre would be developed, and the southern plot would remain open land.

"It's the only green space in historic East Towson, which is an inner beltway historically African American community. And once you take away that green space, there's nothing left," Patoka said, according to WBFF.

Council Member Julian Jones (D-Woodstock) is concerned about the county's tight finances and the uncertainty of federal funding, WYPR and The Sun said.

"This is not a good time," Jones said, according to The Banner. "I don’t think I’ll be supporting the loan, but clearly I support affordable housing."

Advocates said it's time for lawmakers to expand housing options.

"If you are a proponent for affordable housing, then you would not be speaking out against a proposal such as this," said Adria Crutchfield, executive director of the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, according to The Banner. "If not now, when? And if not here, where?"