BALTIMORE (AP)— A vacant Baltimore row house where police say a 13-year-old girl was raped has undergone an extensive rehabilitation.
The work on the East Baltimore block is part of a broader city-led effort to refurbish the street. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has created a program, Vacants to Value, to address the city's more than 16,000 vacant houses.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the city gave responsibility for four investor-owned vacant lots to a single developer, Keith French. He says he's spending up to $100,000 to rehab each house. He plans to start fixing a fifth vacant house.
The homes include the one where a girl was sexually assaulted last October. Alvin Ray Wright is scheduled to stand trial later this summer. His lawyer says he's looking forward to defending the case.
