Developer Supports Repeal of Inclusionary Housing Sunset

Donald Manekin, a principal at Seawall Development Company, supports the repeal of the sunset clause in the city’s Inclusionary Housing Law.

Manekin's company's mixed-use Union Mill development in Hampden is the only project to be subjected to the law since its adoption in 2007.

He said the law, which requires developments of at least 30 housing units that receive public subsidies set aside 20 percent of the units as market-rate affordable housing, helps address a need in Baltimore.  

“It’s the right thing to do,” Manekin said.

Seawall Development also redeveloped the old American Can Factory at 26th and Howard Streets in Remington into a mix of apartments, offices and a coffee shop.

But Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake administration opposes a repeal and instead supports extending the sunset clause until 2020.

In an e-mail, Ryan O’Doherty, a spokesman for the mayor's office, said the sunset clause was included in the initial legislation to give the city time to evaluate the law's effectiveness. But since the recession, new development has dramatically slowed down, limiting the city’s ability to judge its effectiveness.

“The mayor supports an extension of law to July 2020, which would give more time for the housing market to recover and give the city a better understanding of the effectiveness of the ordinance in providing affordable housing opportunities,” O’Doherty wrote.  

But the Baltimore City Council’s Land Use and Transportation Committee approved a bill on Wednesday that strips the sunset clause from the original legislation that was passed in 2007.

Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, who sponsored the initial legislation and the bill to repeal the sunset clause, said the committee passing the sunset repeal is "a significant step in my landmark Inclusionary Housing Bill."

The full council is scheduled to vote on the bill Monday.