Can you imagine that the State of Maryland who owns land and buildings free and clear would give that land to a developer, agree to lease office space from them, under the pretense that the developer will construct new buildings and modernize existing buildings? The State of Maryland currently pays no rent, only maintenance. The land which was formerly a community for African American renters and homeowners in the 1930's and 1940's that was taken by imminent domain for the construction of what is known in Baltimore, MD as the State Office Complex. The State Office Complex is a 22+ acre site of state government offices which is the largest concentration of state employees and agencies in Maryland. On Wednesday, July 28th before the Board of Public Works, the State of Maryland will enter into a sweetheart deal for the development team to construct office buildings on two parcels that the State of Maryland will give to them. The State in turn will lease offices from the developers for the use of agencies located currently on the site. The community receives no economic benefit for being "so called" a part of the development team. The largely out of town developers will walk away with a "boat load" of profits that will fill their coffers. It is unfortunate that our State Leaders don't understand the economic benefits of circulating money within the community versus circulating money out of the community. The deal I've read is bad for the community. It's great for the developers. The community should be on the development team and receive a portion of the profits for community benefit.
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