Mayor's Statement on Rite Aid covenant Issue

Here’s the text of a statement from Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, as part of an email from her communications staff:

Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued the following statement applauding progress made to benefit the Howard Park community. An agreement signed today by Rite Aid of Maryland, Inc. will allow Klein’s Family Markets to move forward with plans to build a full-service supermarket with a pharmacy in the Northwest Baltimore neighborhood.

The location in question has been vacant since 1999 and is burdened with a recorded restrictive covenant which prevents use of the property for the sale of prescription drugs and health and beauty aids. Rite Aid, in recognition of the community’s need for a full-service supermarket that includes a pharmacy, and at the request of the mayor, has agreed to waive that restriction.

“We are excited to announce that the planned construction of a new supermarket in Howard Park can move forward. For too long, people in this community had to take long trips to get the basic ingredients they need to cook a healthy meal at home—soon they will have everything they need in their own back yard. This partnership will bring new jobs and economic opportunity to Howard Park.

We have been working on this project since I represented this district as a member of the City Council. Long-time residents of Howard Park have been supportive and patient throughout the process, and we look forward to celebrating this new addition soon with the entire community.

We are grateful for Klein’s Family Markets for their perseverance and continued willingness to invest in Baltimore, and to Rite Aid for its support. The City of Baltimore understands Rite Aid’s business interests and responsibilities, and very much appreciates Rite Aid’s long-standing commitment to the community and its residents—most recently evidenced by this agreement,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake.

“We are relieved that Rite Aid has finally decided to become a good neighbor and allowing the community to have the supermarket we so desperately need,” said Preston Greene, President of the Howard Park Civic Association.

Since 1999, when the Super Pride market at Liberty Heights Avenue and Hillsdale Road closed, the residents of Howard Park and the surrounding communities have been without a viable grocery option. In an effort to address this concern and fill what has become known as a “food desert,” the City, in partnership with the Howard Park community, proposed the development of a Class A, full-service supermarket on a 5.6-acre site in the heart of the Howard Park Business Area. Over the past five years, the City has worked toward acquiring the property and assembling the site for the development of a grocery store.”