Rendering of the apartment buildings in first phase of the Poppleton redevelopment. (Courtesy of Gensler / Baltimore Sun)

 

By Natalie Sherman Baltimore Sun

Baltimore’s spending panel is poised to approve the issuance of $12 million in bonds to help pay for infrastructure for a long-planned redevelopment in Poppleton.

The plans are a sign of progress for the West Baltimore project, which has been in the works for more than a decade.

The city approved designs in 2014 for the first phase proposed by lead developer New York-based La Cite Development — a six-story complex with about 260 apartments, 19,000 square feet of ground floor retail, a dog park and a plaza in front of the historic Poe House. Most of the building’s units will be market-rate, but about 20 percent are expected to be subsidized.

The city’s Board of Finance backed a $58.3 million tax increment financing plan for the project, in which the bonds for the infrastructure would be repaid using new tax revenue generated by the project. The $12 million deal on Wednesday’s Board of Estimates agenda is for the first phase. Since the TIF was approved, the project’s developers have been working to secure financing.