The Cumberland Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) will receive a grant of $250,000 for the Maryland Avenue Redevelopment Project. The CEDC has also executed a Letter of Intent with Cumberland Gateway Real Estate LLC to sell all real estate holdings project area. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development grant award from the Smart Growth Impact Fund. The funds will be used for the demolition of properties owned in the Maryland Avenue Redevelopment Project site to prepare the site for commercial redevelopment. According to a press release from the CEDC the Letter of Intent dated on December 13rd between the CEDC and Cumberland Gateway Real Estate is intended to result in a binding contractual agreement between the partners in the near future. The goal of the partnership is for a complete sale of real estate holdings from the CEDC to Cumberland Gateway Real Estate early this year. In the statement released by the CEDC President and Executive Director Shawn Hershberger says “we fully intend to honor all remaining verbal agreements we’ve made with residents in terms of acquiring their properties and would still welcome discussions with those who have not provided us an opportunity to discuss their properties. Additional acquisitions of properties within this site will be totally up to the discretion of Cumberland Gateway Real Estate but we anticipate commercial development to begin on the properties we are selling to begin within the next 12-18 months”. CEDC chairman Jonathan Hutcherson added that “the purpose of this effort was to encourage private investment into this corridor in order to change the downward trajectory of not just this site but the city in its entirety; by putting the redevelopment of this site immediately into the hands of private developers it proves this effort has been a successful one and we hope it will spur additional investments into this corridor in the near future.” To find out more about the project log on to www.choosecumberland.org
