Marshall Gardens
Finalist: Best Affordable Development (Up to 100 Units)
Nominated by: The Community Builders
Location: Baltimore City, MD
Developer: The Community Builders
Architect: Architecture By Design
General Contractor: Southway
Interior Designer: Aumen Asner, Inc
Project Website: www.marshallgardensapts.com
Project Statement
Marshall Gardens is a new 87-unit development encompassing three mostly vacant city blocks in central west Baltimore. It involves both the construction of new infill townhouses and apartments, as well as the substantial rehabilitation of five existing historic rowhouses.
This rental development serves a mixed-income population, including very low-income families, workforce households and market-rate (80% AMI) renters. Marshall Gardens provides 60 townhouses and 27 apartments, with units ranging from one to four bedrooms in size. Though technically considered a scattered-site project, all units are close to each other and to the property management offices and clubhouse.
The project is located in three contiguous blocks. Marshall Gardens is a critical component of TCB’s comprehensive redevelopment efforts in central west Baltimore to tackle the most blighted blocks in the neighborhood with the large-scale physical renewal necessary to create a healthier, more stable community. The project arose from an intensive, multiyear planning process funded by a HUD CHOICE Communities Planning Grant, and is the first phase of the comprehensive redevelopment of the nearby Pedestal Gardens apartment complex, a 207-unit Section 8 development.
By addressing three of the worst blocks within the central west Baltimore community and transforming them with high-quality, mixed-income apartments and townhouses, Marshall Gardens will clearly have a positive impact on the community by adding substantially to the affordable housing stock and improving the immediate social and economic fabric. It also offers social services for residents of all ages through its already highly active Community Life program in central West Baltimore and its partnerships with local non-profits.
