Baltimore Rowhouses and Energy Efficiency
Delivered April 10, 2020. Contributor: Heather B.
Goals
To determine how many rowhouses exist in Baltimore and how many are categorized as low-to-moderate-income and to understand the market for upgrading old buildings to meet new energy efficiency standards by answering the following questions: Are companies and the local government already doing this? If so, what companies have experience with renovating rowhouses to make them more energy efficient? What is the average cost of completing a project like this? What is the market size of customers who desire projects like these? If a project like this was funded, where would be the best area to do so? in order to gather information about connected/smart communities and identify other companies to partner with.
Early Findings
Our initial research on Baltimore rowhouses revealed insights. Here are the key pieces of information we found:
Baltimore Rowhouses and Energy Efficiency:
Baltimore Rowhouses
- There are more than 16 kinds of rowhouses in Baltimore.
- From information that is most recent and publicly available, there are at least 20,000 to 30,000 rowhouses.
- Many of these rowhouses are vacant. The Vacants to Value program in Baltimore assists people who are interested in buying and restoring historic rowhouses, especially for those who have moderate incomes.
- Vacants to Value gives eligible homebuyers $10,000 towards closing costs for the purchase of a formerly vacant home. Many other city and business-sponsored incentives are also available that amount to tens of thousands of additional dollars towards restoration costs. However, the buyer must be the primary resident of the home for at least five years after the closing.
- While many of the blighted rowhouses have a listing price in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, after a city-managed renovation, the sale prices are approximately $100,000 to $140,000 (less than half the median list price for Baltimore Metro homes).
Proposed next steps:
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