The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Cornerstone Hill project on track to help rejuvenate city's image, housing stock
At first glance from east, city is 'not a welcoming vision'

By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
CUMBERLAND, Feb. 6 -- Cumberland Mayor Brian Grim said projects such as Cornerstone Hill can lead the way toward improving the city's image along its eastern border. The city, he said, needs additional low-income housing to support a struggling workforce.

Grim, elected mayor three months ago, toured the Cornerstone Hill subdivision project early Friday afternoon in the eastern portion of the city that has undergone, in five years, birth, foreclosure and, now, rebirth.

Grim was accompanied on the tour by Nathan Blatchley, of the Housing Authority of the City of Cumberland and the Cumberland Housing Alliance and Steven Kesner, housing authority executive director. Dave Riekse, project manager, also assisted in providing updates to the oft-criticized project that today is, well, seeing better days.

Construction first began on the then-planned 57-unit townhome development atop McKaig Hill in 2005. The original developer, Cornerstone Enterprises LLC, was foreclosed upon by lender Sandy Spring Bank three years later. At auction, the bank purchased the development.

In 2009, the Cumberland Housing Authority took ownership of the property after receiving grant funding from state government. Since then, the city has forged a partnership with Cumberland Housing Alliance, which now oversees the project.

There are income limitations for those wishing to purchase the units, prices for which range between $119,000 and $135,000. Phase I of the project consists of 15 units. Phase II construction began last spring. It is currently a planned nine-unit section. Blatchley and Kesner said the market will largely determine how quickly Phase II is completed and when Phase III's 24 units will be built.

Grim told The Potomac Highlands Dispatch the purpose of the tour was to stay informed about ongoing projects.

"I have questioned the need for continued building of new housing and the needs of specific sectors of our community," Grim said. "What has become apparent is while there may not be great need for more senior housing once current projects are completed, there remains a need for other forms of housing. Monitoring the kinds of projects and the needs of the city are my goals..."

Another goal, he said, is to improve visitors' first impressions of the city at its eastern entrance along the Baltimore Avenue corridor.

"I think we can do a lot of renovation there and a lot of modifications to both the housing and the city infrastructure," Grim said.

He said the area gives a less-than-ideal first impression in part because properties are not being well-maintained and the local roads carry a heavy amount of large truck traffic.

"It's not something that's welcoming," Grim said. "It's not a welcoming vision for Cumberland. It's something we need to work to renew."