Urban Agriculture in the City of Baltimore: Request For Qualifications

The younger girls of BUGS learned how to become guerilla gardeners last week. Photo by Bugs: Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students.

Non-profit and for-profit farmers are being invited to submit their qualifications for the right to negotiate five-year leases for parcels of city-owned vacant land

RFQ Issued: March 25, 2011 Application Deadline: May 6, 2011
Issued by: Baltimore City Department of Planning And Department of Housing and Community Development

The Baltimore City Department of Planning (DOP), in partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), invites Statements of Qualifications (the RFQ) from farmers to participate in the development of a certain selection of pre-identified city-owned vacant and underutilized properties throughout the City of Baltimore for the purpose of urban agriculture. This offering is intended to 1) develop successful entrepreneurial urban farms throughout the City of Baltimore, 2) ameliorate the problem of food deserts in Baltimore City neighborhoods, 3) transform vacant and unused land to achieve economic, social and environmental benefits.

DOP and DHCD will select a pool of qualified applicants who will then be eligible to be offered leases with the City of Baltimore for urban agriculture activities on certain properties. Only properties currently owned by the Mayor and City Council, and for which there are no short- to mid-term development purposes will be offered.

In 2010, the Department of Planning identified city-owned vacant land that could potentially be used for successful urban farming ventures. These sites, at a minimum of one acre in size, will be leased to qualified applicants selected through this RFQ for the purpose of urban agriculture. It is the intention of DOP and DHCD to lease up to thirty-five acres of land for this purpose over the next three years. Disposition of specific properties will occur on a site by site basis after qualified applicants are selected.

See Request for Qualifications here.