Baltimore officials admit mistake in development deal
A developer in Baltimore could make a six-figure profit by selling a vacant Mount Vernon building that the city gave her nine years ago. One of the conditions of the deal was that she turn the building into apartments, but she never did. Still, BettyJean Murphy, after the sale, minus property taxes and any costs for upkeep and similar expenses could make a $700,000 profit. City officials have admitted that they screwed up, permitting a developer to enrich themselves with city funds. Murphy says she will pay back the original $368,000 that the city used to buy the building for her in 1995 so she could turn it into affordable apartments, but that she owes the city nothing else. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/yahoo/bal-te.md.savannah16aug16,0,7003336.story?coll=bal-newsaol-headlines