Committee approves sale of Patterson Park property to Saint Vincent de Paul with address correction

Baltimore City’s Land Use and Transportation Committee voted to report Council Bill 25-00070 favorable as amended, correcting the street address in the bill text from 242 to 238 South Patterson Park Avenue. The Department of Real Estate and the Office of the Comptroller said the sale would allow Saint Vincent de Paul of Baltimore to acquire a property where it has operated a Head Start program for more than 20 years.

Jay Hardy, representing the Comptroller's Office and the Department of Real Estate, told the committee the parcel includes a two-story building and a playground on about 11,000 square feet. "Saint Vincent de Paul of Baltimore has operated a head start program at this location for over 20 years," Hardy said. He added that the department will negotiate purchase terms and the sale price with Saint Vincent de Paul subject to Board of Estimates approval; the sale price was not specified in the hearing.

Vice chair Sharon Green Middleton asked about a separate Saint Vincent facility on Park Heights Avenue; Eric Evans of the Department of Real Estate said that acquisition is pending and the organization is meeting with community representatives through Park Heights Renaissance. Councilman Mark Parker, who described a background in early childhood education, praised Saint Vincent de Paul's stewardship and said city disposition to the nonprofit will help secure stable access to affordable early childhood education in a part of the city where space for such programs is scarce.

Planning, Finance, the Department of Real Estate and the Department of Housing and Community Development all indicated favorable reports. The chair moved an amendment on behalf of the Comptroller's Office to substitute 238 for 242 in the bill text; the committee approved the amendment and then voted to report the bill favorable as amended. The bill will be recommended for second reader at the next full council meeting.