The Flag House Courts redevelopment, a Hope

The Flag House Courts redevelopment, a Hope VI project in East Baltimore, is one of four winners of the American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award for outstanding regional and urban design. Hope VI is HUD’s program to redevelop public housing. Built in 1955, the original development of Flag House Courts was one of Baltimore’s first attempts to relocate lower-income residents from rowhouse slums to skyscraper communities, part of a national trend at the time. The redevelopment of Flag House Courts, designed through a series of charrettes that included the public housing residents, involved the demolition of the 338-unit vacant public housing complex, which took place in February 2001. The high-rises, the last of their kind in Baltimore, will be replaced with a mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhood with townhouses, apartments, retail shops, a community and youth development center, a micro-business center, and green space. Planner Torti Gallas and Partners/CHK has extended the street grid system to reconnect residents with other parts of the city. Construction is expected to begin the first half of 2001.