A new state committee to combat the disease begins work in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — There's a new joint effort between Maryland and Baltimore aimed at the thousands of vacant properties in the city.

The Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council, led by the heads of state and city housing agencies, will hold its first meeting Thursday morning in Northeast Baltimore.

Gov. Wes Moore created the council via executive order last month.

The new group of state and local stakeholders will find investments to convert at least 5,000 vacant properties – about half of the city's total vacancy – into “homeownership or other positive outcomes over the next five years,” the state Department of Housing and Community Development said .

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Baltimore Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy, who will serve as vice chair of the council, said in a statement:

Moore's executive order noted that “the long-standing concentration of dilapidated vacant residential properties and other buildings in Baltimore City adversely affects the public health, safety, and quality of life of residents” and “the concentration of vacant properties disproportionately impacts lower-income communities of color and reduces property ownership.” . “impair the value of surrounding properties and significantly reduce the potential for further development of residential and commercial properties.”