BALTIMORE — McCormack Baron Salazar, an affordable housing developer and operator based in St. Louis, and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City have closed on financing for the next 150 apartments at Perkins Square, advancing the $398 million redevelopment of the former Perkins Homes in East Baltimore. Phases 5A and 5B, representing approximately $87 million in development costs, will include 111 income-restricted and 39 market-rate units.
The first three phases of Perkins Square included 411 mixed-income units delivered between 2024 and 2025, while the 154-unit fourth phase is under construction with completion slated for 2027. Perkins Square is replacing Perkins Homes, a 629-unit public housing community built in 1942. Demolition began in 2021 as part of Baltimore’s broader Perkins-Somerset-Oldtown Transformation Plan, a 244-acre redevelopment backed by HUD Choice Neighborhoods funding that is replacing the former public housing while adding mixed-income residences, infrastructure, parks and a new school.
Phase 5A will include 60 apartments with a total development cost of approximately $41.6 million. Phase 5B, with 90 apartments, carries a cost of approximately $45.7 million. Tenants in 67 of the planned 150 apartments will receive rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, as part of a commitment to replace all 629 public housing units that formerly made up Perkins Homes. Residents in those units generally pay 30 percent of their income toward rent and utilities.
Perkins Square is being financed in part through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. To qualify, tenants must earn a household income of up to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). The development also includes market-rate apartments. Construction on the two phases is expected to begin later this year, with completion slated for 2028.