In 1993, Congress authorized $300 million to create the Hope VI program, intended to rebuild the most physically distressed public housing in the country. One project undertaken through Hope VI was Baltimore’s Lexington Terrace, constructed on the site of one of the worst public housing high-rises in the city.

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City, community representatives, designers, and members of the New Lexington Terrace Joint Venture – a partnership between Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc. and Mid-City Financial / Edgewood Management Corporation – all worked in concert to locate the five major components of Lexington Terrace: 203 rental town homes; 100 for-sale town homes; an 88-unit senior building; a business center; and a community recreation and day care center.

The new partnership also brought Gallagher Evelius & Jones LLP into the mix. With a well-earned national reputation for innovative real estate financing through the sale of low-income housing tax credits, the firm handled oversight of the entire Lexington Terrace project to make certain it complied with all federal mandates and would be eligible for the maximum allowable tax credits.

To that end, the firm reviewed zoning, encroachments, and title insurance. It conducted due diligence to determine whether the developer had both the expertise and financing to complete the project. It made sure that a repayment plan for the government loans was in place and that 50% of the construction and land costs could be covered by bond proceeds. It drafted the joint venture agreement that established the relationship between the investors and the bank.

“It was a very complicated deal,” recalls Gallagher Evelius & Jones LLP Partner David Raderman. But it was clearly one worth the investment. Today, Lexington Terrace is a thriving mixed-use, mixed-income community, totally integrated with its surroundings while retaining the feel of a vibrant urban neighborhood.