The 1400 Block of North Bethel Street
If you ride the Amtrak through east Baltimore and face north, you will eventually notice the colorful rowhomes decorating the 1400 block of North Bethel Street. But before this block was an eye-catching landmark along the train’s path, it was an eyesore full of hollowed-out vacant homes, saved from destruction in 2019 by Blank Slate Development.
Blank Slate’s founder and CEO, Alex Aaron, discovered the blighted area when he was still new to property development. While Aaron now has a resume filled with successful rehabs and is a proud Reservoir Hill resident, he is a Virginia native who studied finance in D.C. and formerly worked on Wall Street. He says he chose to build his real estate career in Baltimore because of our unique architecture, passionate community, and excessive vacant building inventory. “I was shocked,” says Aaron, referring to his surprise at the number of vacant properties plaguing Baltimore City. “It was clear that one person, one company, one nonprofit could not achieve this alone.”
"You have to build trust with the city, build trust with the community, and really develop a track record."
Aaron says his starting goal was to tackle blight and create an impact. To create that impact, he wanted to develop entire blocks right away. “We found out, not being from Baltimore, that’s very tough,” says Aaron. “You have to build trust with the city, build trust with the community, and really develop a track record.” So, he took the time to study the industry. Aaron purchased his first property from One House At A Time in 2016, turning out a successful renovation. After gaining experience, the 1400 block of North Bethel was the first step to reaching his initial goal.
Over a span of 18 months, Blank Slate acquired 14 units on the block. Six were receivership properties, one was privately owned, and seven were city-owned and being prepared for demolition before Aaron proposed to renovate the block. BGE even removed all gas lines in the area before Blank Slate could get started. While the acquisition process can be tough, Aaron says he was lucky with this project and appreciates the guidance he received from One House and the Department of Housing and Community Development’s BuyIntoBmore initiative, formerly known as Vacants to Value. “They want to see you win. They want to help you,” says Aaron. “They want you to make a difference in Baltimore and tackle this blight. So, I didn't feel like I was alone. I could reach out and ask a question. I could strategize with them on acquisition.”
The 15th unit Aaron did not acquire was the only property on the block with an established resident. The house sat toward the center of the vacant building cluster, sandwiched between complete dilapidation. This posed a problem for Aaron’s total block renovation plan. “Of course, the easy thing is to buy that guy out and keep it moving,” says Aaron. “But when we talk about thoughtful development, a couple of things come to mind. One, in particular, is development without displacement.”
Aaron chose not to buy out the resident. Instead, he helped improve the resident’s property by earning a grant to repair their façade. The property gained a new roof, doors, windows, a fence, and an exterior paint job to match the block’s updated aesthetic. These improvements add value to the property. “I think that's important for someone who's been there forever,” says Aaron. “I think they deserve all the upside and equity and appreciation just as the next person.”
This 15th unit also challenged Aaron’s plan to expand each property into larger units. After gaining feedback from realtors and potential buyers, he hoped to combine the narrow, 12-foot-wide units into double-wide rowhomes (22 feet wide). But this challenge also presented an opportunity to include affordable housing on the block. In the end, Blank Slate left two 12-foot-wide units to provide a variety of price points for new buyers. They combined 12 of the 14 units, creating six double-wide properties.
Blank Slate overcame the obstacles, and with some help, the block started to come together. The 1400 North Bethel block lies in Councilman Robert Stokes’ district. Aaron says he developed a strong relationship with the councilman, who helped get the block’s street repaved and had streetlights installed for safety. Aaron emphasizes how blight removal in Baltimore takes a village. “You can't have one person, one entity,” says Aaron. “You have to have everybody coming together: One House, the city, the councilmembers, the community. It is a collective effort. It's not just some fancy developer with the know-all. No, everybody plays a part.”
The impact Aaron dreamed of is now realized on the 1400 block of North Bethel Street, completed in 2021. The exterior brick is painted in kaleidoscopic hues of green, orange, gray, black, and beige. The interior style is modern and spacious. Blank Slate also convinced Amtrak to redo the fence near the train, replacing a collapsing chain link fence with sturdy iron.
"My prayer is that these homeowners and existing residents receive the equity and appreciation..."
They sold each home by Spring 2022, answering the surrounding community’s request for stabilization and homeownership on the block. Aaron says that around 80% were first-time homebuyers, 95% women-owned, and 75% minority-owned. Homeowners on the block even save money, thanks to the ten-year property tax credit Blank Slate obtained from the Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) and a booster grant from BuyIntoBmore. “Everything we do really is not for us. It's for the end buyer or homeowner, and it's for the community,” says Aaron. “My prayer is that these homeowners and existing residents receive the equity and appreciation so they could use that to start a business, to send their kids to college, to pay off debt, to do whatever they want with that money.”
Aaron says that despite setbacks and the need to pivot creatively throughout the project, he is proud of the result. “We did our damn best to check every box and hopefully have delivered a sound product to that community,” says Aaron. “It was a challenging project. We never quit, we never gave up, we pushed through, and it was a great turnout.”
