Nonprofit head gives rehab effort another go
Encouraged by increased construction, HEBCAC director tackles vacants
Edward Sabatino, the head of a long-standing East Baltimore nonprofit, initially hesitated to consider tackling vacant homes.
Ever since an early rehab effort in the 1990s faltered, nearly felling the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition, the organization had focused on services, including a Main Street program and centers for youth, substance abuse and computer training.
But prodded by neighbors and encouraged by increased construction in the nearby East Baltimore Development Inc. zone north of the Johns Hopkins University medical campus, HEBCAC started putting together a plan for a roughly five-block zone just to the east. “We thought we could quite frankly ride their coattails a little bit,” Sabatino said. “We figured the neighborhood right next door probably had a reasonable chance at being successful if we could kind of get it on its way.”
After commissioning a market study, the organization identified about 65 properties for the city to demolish — a task Sabatino expects to be completed within the week — and 45 others it planned to acquire, rehab and sell. About 16 homes have sold so far and the group hopes to rehab and sell the rest by the end of 2017 or early 2018, he said.
Buyers commit to a home before HEBCAC hires contractors for the rehab, which typically costs about $200,000 — not much less than the typical sales price. The market isn’t strong enough yet to lure for-profit developers, but Sabatino said that could be a next phase for the roughly $8 million project.
The effort, dubbed “Station East,” is starting to take shape in the 900 block of N. Montford Ave. About six homes there have been sold; HEBCAC, which is involved in other larger redevelopment efforts such as the Food Hub, is also steering funds toward the neighborhood itself: repaving streets, planting trees and improving the facades of some inhabited houses.
Sabatino doesn’t think of HEBCAC as a developer.
“We’re in the business of neighborhood improvements,” he said. “Anybody can fix up houses. In some ways that’s the easiest part of the equation. … It’s cleaning, greening, investing in the people who are already part of the neighborhood.”
Edward Sabatino
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