Empower Baltimore's Future
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Your generous donation is key to advancing our transformative mixed-use development project, dedicated to changing the lives of Baltimore City’s youth. Your support will help address root causes of violence, promote positive development, and leave a lasting impact on our community. Join us in this vital initiative—make a donation today.
COMMUNIVERSITY OVERVIEW
Housing
Training
Leadership Development
Economic Development
COMMUNIVERSITY
The Choo Smith CommuniVersity will be designed in a manner that will give the look and feel of a college campus. The CommuniVersity will give the visitor a feeling of exclusivity, community, fun and serenity. The CommuniVersity will consist of three buildings with programming and services for youth and community.
A PRIME LOCATION
Located in a beautiful neighborhood of Cold Spring, a suburb of Baltimore, Arise Baltimore, an Athletic and Educational Life–Center, features a carefully master planned and beautifully landscaped 18.5–acre campus and housing community. The grounds, sports center, retail, educational, citizen services, dining, recreational amenities, and residences are designed to provide a gracious active, citizen improvement, multi–generational retirement lifestyle and a variety of exciting activities. All demographics, activity–levels, socio–economic groups and faiths are welcome.
Project Overview
The Communiversity is a replicable community
development concept that will establish its inaugural
site in Choo Smith’s hometown of Baltimore, MD.
- Site size: 18.5 Acres
- Existing Structure: 347,800 sq
- Mixed Use Zoning
- 5 min from I-83
- Strong access to area institutions: Sinai Hospital, area universities (Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College, and University of Notre Dame), Maryland Zoo, and Pimlico Race Track
Sponsor
Choo Smith Youth Empowerment
- The Choo Smith Youth Empowerment (“CSYE”) leadership team consists of professional athletes, government officials, financiers, engineers, construction project managers, athlete parents and coaches.
- CSYE is committed to increasing youth opportunities in Baltimore, Maryland.
- It provides services and programs that focus on youth personal development by motivating and inspiring their developing minds and giving the necessary tools and guidance for youth to reach their highest potential and to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Economic overview
Housing
rental comparables
Training
Communiversity will enable residents and members of
the community workforce development including:
Life skills - communications, adaptability and leadership development
Vocational skills- coding, construction, carpentry, urban agriculture, transportation/logistics
Solar, LED lighting, electric car charging stations.
Economic driver
In order to sustain the programmatic aspects, create jobs and add to the vitality of the Communiversity concept, the developers will select and attract an economic driver. Currently we are carefully examining and leaning toward indoor vertical farming.
Vertical Farming - A process by which crops are grown indoors in vertically stacked within highly controlled environments
• Industry expected to grow to over $3Billion by 2024
Addresses the impending climate and food crisis by using technology to grow fresh, higher-quality produce locally at the point of consumption
• Regardless of weather or seasonality
• Using zero pesticides and over 95% less water
Reappropriating industrial space to grow crops indoors is at least 100 times more productive per square foot of land than traditional agriculture
Rooted in food/nutrition deliver, but social responsibility as well.
• Continued education, life experience and work-opportunities for local adults and teenagers
Solar economic driver
The CommuniVersity, will generate its own onsite power with a
proposed 2 MW rooftop solar array.
The project will be developed and completed by a Maryland based clean energy company, Power Capitol Group LLC. Power Capitol Group projects that this solar energy opportunity will generate millions of kWh of electricity annually. This amount of electricity will be able to offset a major portion of the facility’s energy usage. Charles “Choo” Smith stated, “As a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a conscious and civic-minded citizen, I am excited at the opportunity to be the Ambassador and Spokesperson of Power Capitol Group’s clean energy initiative. When I met with the principals of Power Capitol Group, it made perfect business and environmental sense. Essentially, they are giving me the chance to save thousands of dollars annually while at the same time providing our community with training, jobs, help with electric bills, and reducing our carbon footprint. I pray that our great City, the community, and local businesses will embrace the future of these clean energy solutions.”
Leadership development (via basketball)
Studies show sports reinforces discipline and life skills:Research on how women build leadership skills through sports. Ninety-four percent of women in the Csuite played sports; 52 percent of women in the C-suite played at the university level; and 77 percent of
C-suite women think women who played sports make good employees*
*https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2018/07/10/studies-show-athletes-bring-leadership-skills-work-place/
- Teamwork and trust
- Conflict management, dealing with adversity and conflict
- Strategic thinking and course shifting
- Physical fitness
COMMUNIVERSITY
conceptual rendering
Partners
