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National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman Joined Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan for a Site Visit to City Arts

City Arts housing development will be a key addition to Baltimore's Station North Arts and Entertainment District

March 9, 2010

		Contact: Victoria Hutter 202-682-5692 hutterv@arts.gov

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman joined Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan for a site visit to City Arts, an affordable residential development located in Baltimore's Station North Arts and Entertainment District and designed with artists in mind that is scheduled to open in January 2011.

Chairman Landesman said, "At the NEA, we know that artists are placemakers.  When you bring arts organizations and arts workers into a neighborhood, the ethos of that place changes: the arts are a force of social cohesion, civic engagement, and economic revitalization.  We are thrilled that the City Arts development was made possible through an existing HUD program and a forward thinking public-private partnership."

"Before President Obama signed the Recovery Act into law, America was losing 750,000 jobs a month.  Since then, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the Recovery Act has created as many as 2.4 million jobs throughout the country," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said. "If you need any evidence of that, you only need to come here to City Arts to see for yourself how Recovery Act investments are creating good-paying jobs and jumpstarting affordable housing development." [Please see Secretary Donovan's full remarks.]

The Reinvestment Fund President Jeremy Nowak stated, "City Arts is developing affordable housing targeted to artists on a 1.2-acre lot that has been vacant for decades. This development complements and enhances the neighborhood’s existing assets, which include a wide variety of cultural organizations and activities, entertainment venues, and proximity to transportation systems."

Director of Jubilee Baltimore Charles Duff added, "I was pleased to introduce Rocco Landesman to some of the artists, organizations, and community members who are welcoming City Arts to the neighborhood.  He was able to hear directly from the New Greenmount West Community Association,  the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Area 405, The Windup Space, Load of Fun, and the Maryland Institute College of Arts."

City Arts will include 69 rental apartments, 8 for-sale town houses, and a professionally managed visual arts gallery and performance arts space.  City Arts' 69 rental units will be targeted to low- and moderate-income artists, with 11 units reserved for non-elderly disabled persons from the Public Housing Waiting List.

City Arts rental units are being financed using $2.6 million from the Tax Credit Assistance Program, part of the federal ARRA funding, and $10.8 million in financing from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Bank of America, and Enterprise Community Investment.

City Arts development team is a partnership of three nonprofit organizations: Homes for America, Jubilee Baltimore, and TRF Development Partners Baltimore. Please see more information about City Arts (pdf)

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National Endowment for the Arts (www.arts.gov)
The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov)
HUD's mission is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. To fulfill this mission, HUD will embrace high standards of ethics, management and accountability and forge new partnerships--particularly with faith-based and community organizations--that leverage resources and improve HUD's ability to be effective on the community level.

Homes for America (www.homesforamerica.org)
Homes for America, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit housing corporation which specializes in developing and preserving housing for low and moderate income households and special needs populations. Homes for America carries out its mission in a variety of ways, including as a developer of affordable housing, providing development services to nonprofit organizations, and providing technical assistance to government agencies to develop and implement housing programs.

Jubilee Baltimore (www.jubileebaltimore.org)
Jubilee Baltimore helps Baltimore to build safe, stable, desirable, mixed-income neighborhoods through affordable housing development and neighborhood revitalization. Jubilee Baltimore helps to strengthen weak housing markets, increase the attractiveness and vitality of city neighborhoods, and bring about revival without displacement and social disruption.

TRF Development Partners Baltimore (www.trfdp.com)
TRF Development Partners Baltimore (TRF DP) is a partnership of The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD). TRF DP was established to create sustainable market growth in distressed Baltimore neighborhoods through a “build from strength” investment strategy. TRF DP is a residential developer that creates new and rehabilitated homes that are high quality, energy efficient and affordable to Baltimore's hard working families.

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National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
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