Monday, June 12th | 3:00PM | 810 Leadenhall St.
Fellow Betty Bland Thomas and the Historic Sharp Leadenhall Community invite you to join them on Monday, June 12th at 3:00pm at 810 Leadenhall Street to oppose CB 22-0295, a rezoning bill for 810 Leadenhall. The action will be a call for equitable development that includes affordable housing and to amplify the rich Black history in Sharp Leadenhall.
Historic Sharp-Leadenhall Neighborhood Fights for Community-Led Development and Inclusionary Housing
BALTIMORE, MD – Residents of Sharp-Leadenhall, a historic and predominantly Black neighborhood in South Baltimore, will hold an action on Monday, June 12, ahead of the Baltimore City Council hearing on bill 22-0295. The bill would rezone 810 Leadenhall Street to transit oriented development (TOD-4) designation, allowing developer Workshop Development to build more than 160 market-rate units. The developer has refused the community’s request to include affordable units, as called for by the Sharp-Leadenhall Master Plan.
Legacy residents are fighting to prevent Black community members from being priced out of the neighborhood they have fought to preserve from highway construction and eminent domain.
The developer’s refusal to include affordable units demonstrates the need for an effective inclusionary housing policy in Baltimore City. Council bill 22-0195, proposed inclusionary housing legislation, would mandate developers receiving public subsidies to make 10% of all newly-built units affordable to those earning below 60% of the area median income. The proposed policy is intended to prevent displacement and end the practice of subsidized segregation.
Workshop Development plans to build a six-story apartment building at 810 Leadenhall Street in Otterbein/Sharp-Leadenhall. The development would replace the former Shofer’s Furniture warehouse; its current tenants are Protean Books & Records and Apple TV’s Lady in the Lake. The property at 810 Leadenhall Street was purchased by MOSB Holdings LLC in July 2022 for $3,045,000, according to state records.
The action will amplify the rich history of historical preservation in Sharp-Leadenhall and call for equitable development that prioritizes affordable housing.